TRAI introduces new porting guidelines from July 1 to prevent fraudulent SIM swaps

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) on March 14 announced several new guidelines for replacing lost, damaged or stolen SIM cards. The rules take effect today (July 1). According to the guidelines, mobile phone users will now have to wait a certain period of time before they are allowed to switch network operators. According to the regulator, the move is said to be aimed at curbing fraudulent SIM swapping and carrier switching.

New TRAI guidelines

According to a circular issued by TRAI, users will now have to wait for seven days after replacing a stolen, damaged or lost SIM card to switch network service providers. These new rules come into effect today, following the Ninth Amendment to the Mobile Number Porting (MNP) Rules introduced in 2009. In the past, the MNP rules have changed eight times.

In particular, the MNP rules offer users a way to switch between telecom service providers in India while retaining their unique mobile numbers. According to TRAI, its new rules are aimed at combating fraudulent SIM swapping by criminals.

TRAI defines SIM replacement as the process of “the purchase by an existing subscriber of a new SIM card to replace a lost or non-working SIM card”. The regulator allows mobile phone users to get a new SIM card if the old one is lost, stolen or damaged. Under the rules, telecom providers will now be prohibited from issuing a unique portability code (UPC) to users for the first seven days after a SIM card is replaced. For this purpose, new criteria for refusal to issue a UPC have been introduced. To provide UNP, mobile operators must check the following conditions:

1. Mobile number ported earlier. If so, 90 days have not passed since the last transfer date.
2. Another port request is in progress from the same mobile number.
3. The UPC has already been issued to the mobile number and has not expired.

If any of the above conditions are valid, the network provider will be barred from generating the UPC and will have to inform the subscriber about the reason through SMS, according to TRAI.

According to TRAI, these draft rules have been finalized following a suggestion from the Department of Telecommunications (DoT). Stakeholder meetings were also held along with due analysis after which the amendment was announced.