SIM Binding: The government has prepared to implement a new rule, after which the way of using many big messaging and social communication apps in India will change. This includes popular apps like WhatsApp, Telegram, Signal, Snapchat, ShareChat, JioChat, Arattai and Josh. If you also use them, you may see a big change in your experience in the coming months.
What did the government say?
The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has directed these apps to prepare their services within the next 90 days in such a way that the app runs only when the same SIM is present in the phone with which the account was verified. As soon as that SIM is removed, the app should close automatically. This process is called SIM Binding.
Till now you login to WhatsApp or Telegram once with OTP and after that the app continues to run even if the SIM is changed, even if the SIM is removed or the phone is running on Wi-Fi. The government says that this facility is becoming a big threat to security.
Why does the government consider SIM binding necessary?
The government claims that many cyber criminals—especially fraudsters based outside India—are misusing Indian mobile numbers. They create accounts with old, inactive or fake numbers and hide the location by taking advantage of running the app without a SIM. Since the SIM is not physically in the phone, tracking it becomes difficult. If the app stops as soon as the SIM is removed, the government believes that this big loophole available to fraudsters will be closed.
Telecom companies have also supported this move. He says that today apps verify SIM only at the time of installation, after that even if the SIM is removed or closed, the app still keeps working. This is why spammers and fraudsters are able to easily misuse the numbers.
What changes will apps need to make?
The government has set two main conditions.
SIM persistent presence
The app will have to check from time to time whether the same SIM is installed in the phone or not. The app should stop immediately as soon as the SIM is changed or removed.
Restricting web access:
Auto-logout will be required every 6 hours on features like WhatsApp Web. Login again will happen only when you scan the QR code from the phone. This will ensure identity of the user and device. Apps will have to report to the government within 120 days that they have implemented all the instructions.
What effect will this have on common users?
This will not have a big impact on the daily chatting of most people. Simply the apps will check the SIM more often and maybe require re-login sometimes. But users whose app runs on a secondary device or who keep the SIM in one phone and use the app in another may face problems.
Will this stop online fraud?
Experts’ opinions are divided on this. Many cyber experts say that fraudsters often buy SIM with fake documents, commit fraud and throw away the SIM for a few days, in such a situation even SIM binding will not be able to stop them completely. Some people say that India already uses strict verification techniques like AI and Video-KYC, yet if fraud is increasing, then the problem probably lies somewhere else.
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