Starting Sunday, March 1, messaging apps used by millions of Indians – WhatsApp, Telegram, Signal, Snapchat, Sharechat, Jiochat, Josh and Arattai, among others – will have to remain continuously linked to a user’s active SIM card.
The government’s SIM binding directive, a first of its kind in the world, kicks in on March 1, and it will change how these platforms work in India, regardless of the significant pushback from messaging platforms and their industry representatives in the run-up to the deadline.
The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) introduced the SIM binding rules in November 2025 under the Telecommunications (Telecom Cyber Security) Amendment Rules, 2025. For users, the most immediate change is that these apps will no longer work if the linked SIM is not present and active in the device.
Apps must ensure the SIM remains continuously linked within 90 days. For those using these platforms on web browsers, the rules add another layer. The apps will be required to log users out automatically every six hours, after which they will need to sign back in through a QR code. At present, most apps only verify a mobile number once, at the time of installation.
Forum calls directive ‘unconstitutional’
The rules ran into immediate resistance from messaging platforms and the Broadband India Forum (BIF), an industry body that counts Meta, Google and other major tech firms among its members. In a letter dated February 23 to DoT Secretary Amit Agrawal, BIF cited a senior counsel’s opinion that termed the directive “unconstitutional” and beyond the government’s legal powers.
BIF argued that telecom laws apply to operators, not messaging platforms, officially categorised as Telecommunication Identifier User Entities (TIUE) under the new rules. “Merely because an app uses a phone number to identify a user does not make that app a telephone company,” the legal opinion stated, as cited by BIF.
In its letter, BIF said, “It is respectfully submitted that issues mentioned in the opinion pertain not to the objective of combating cybercrime, which remains paramount, but to the legal architecture through which such measures are operationalised.”
“We respectfully submit that while the intended objective of these amended rules and respective directions is well understood and appreciated, any such regulatory intervention must adhere to the principles of due process and proportionality and must be within the statutory ambit of the governing legislation, that is, The Telecommunication Act, 2023,” it said.
Government holds firm
Union Telecom Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, at a briefing earlier this week, made clear the rules will not be revisited. “There are some issues that are national security issues, and on national security issues, there can be no compromise,” he said.
The DoT maintained that SIM binding will make it harder for criminals to misuse messaging services remotely, helping curb digital scams and cybercrime.
The Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) backed the move, saying mandatory SIM binding would maintain a reliable link between the user, the number and the device, which could help reduce spam, fraud calls and financial scams.
(With inputs from agencies)
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