No WhatsApp or Telegram Without SIM Card, Says DoT

New Delhi: Very soon, people must link their messaging and voice over IP apps, such as WhatsApp, with active SIM cards as the Central government seeks to plug loopholes in cybersecurity and prevent cyber fraud being committed from foreign countries.

In its direction to companies offering app-based communication services in India, the telecom department said that it has come to the notice of the central government that some of these apps allow users to consume their services without having the underlying SIM — used for registering such service — within the device.

Allowing people to use these services with the SIM card, DoT said, “is posing a challenge to telecom cyber security as it is being misused from outside the country to commit cyber-frauds.” The guidelines, it said, are aimed at preventing the misuse of telecommunication identifiers and to “safeguard the integrity and security of the telecom ecosystem”. The companies have to submit compliance reports to the telecom companies within 120 days.

With this direction, the messaging services will only work if the SIM is present and active in the user's device. It would impact messaging apps like WhatsApp, Telegram, Signal, Arattai, Snapchat, Sharechat, Jiochat, and Josh.

If the people use the app over the web, they will be logged out at least once every six hours, and the users will have to sign in again using a QR code generated on the mobile phone having the underlying SIM card.

“From 90 days of issue of these instructions, ensure that the web service instance of the Mobile App, if provided, shall be logged out periodically (not later than 6 hours) and allow the facility to the user to re-link the device using QR code,” it added.