SIM binding, IMEI crackdown and Sanchar Saathi: where India's telecom anti-fraud rules stand

AI-generated editorial illustration by CyberShitty. Not a photograph or a document from the organisations named.

Messaging apps have until 31 December 2026 to tie accounts to an active SIM. The fixed six-hour web logout has been dropped. DoT is warning that tampering with IMEIs or renting out SIMs can mean three years in jail.

01 / What changed in 2026

India's Department of Telecommunications (DoT) is using the Telecommunications Act, 2023 and the Telecom Cyber Security (TCS) Rules, 2024, as amended in 2025, to cut the telecom links that cyber fraud depends on. There are three parts: SIM binding for messaging apps, stricter enforcement against IMEI tampering and SIM misuse, and disconnections at scale through Sanchar Saathi.

SIM binding. On 28 November 2025, DoT directed WhatsApp, Telegram, Snapchat, Arattai, ShareChat, Josh, JioChat and Signal to keep each account continuously linked to the active SIM in the device. The app should not work without that SIM. Web sessions were to be logged out at least every six hours. The original deadline was 90 days, with a compliance report due in 120 days (PIB, 1 December 2025). DoT said accounts that keep working after a SIM is removed or taken abroad make "digital arrest" and impersonation scams possible using Indian numbers.

That deadline passed. On 2 April 2026, PTI reported that DoT had extended it to 31 December 2026 after industry asked for more time, and had replaced the fixed six-hour logout with risk-based logout. The same day, Minister of State Pemmasani Chandra Sekhar told the Rajya Sabha that no fixed period had been set for logging out web sessions (MediaNama). Meta confirmed to MediaNama on 7 April that WhatsApp is testing SIM binding with Indian users.

02 / IMEI tampering and SIM renting

DoT issued a fresh warning on 31 August 2026 and a PIB factsheet on 23 September 2026. Under the Telecommunications Act, 2023:

• Section 42(3)(c) bans tampering with telecom identifiers such as the 15-digit IMEI. Section 42(3)(e) bans getting SIMs through fraud, cheating or impersonation.
• The penalty is up to three years in prison, a fine of up to ₹50 lakh, or both. The offences are cognisable and non-bailable under Section 42(7), and people who abet them face the same punishment under Section 42(6).
• DoT warns that people who get SIMs in their own name and then lend, rent or "mule" them for fraud may be legally liable themselves.
• Makers and importers must register every IMEI on the Device Setu (ICDR) portal before first sale or import. Dealers in used phones must check the national database of tampered and blacklisted IMEIs.

03 / Sanchar Saathi by the numbers

According to a Rajya Sabha reply reported by MediaNama on 24 July 2026:

• DoT's AI tool, ASTR, flagged connections that were then asked to re-verify. More than 88 lakh that failed were disconnected.
• Up to 15 July 2026, 11.18 lakh Chakshu reports from citizens led to 50.90 lakh connections being cut. DoT says it acts on patterns across many reports, not on single complaints.
• DoT's Digital Intelligence Platform shares data with I4C and SEBI.

Separately, the MHA says more than 15.75 lakh SIMs and 5.77 lakh IMEIs reported by police had been blocked as of 30 June 2026.

04 / Confirmed vs. claimed

Confirmed: the text of the SIM-binding directions, the legal provisions and penalties, and the minister's statement that logout will be risk-based. Reported but not officially published: DoT has not issued a public notice of the extension to 31 December 2026, which comes from PTI's official sources. Contested: the Broadband India Forum, whose members include Meta and Google, argued in a February 2026 letter that the SIM-binding rules go beyond the parent Act. How apps will handle multi-device use, family phones and Wi-Fi-only tablets after the deadline is still not clear.

05 / What to do now

• Check the mobile connections registered in your name on Sancharsaathi.gov.in (Know Your Mobile Connections) and report any you do not recognise.
• Never hand over, sell or rent a SIM in your name.
• Before buying a phone, dial *#06# to see its IMEI. Check it on Sanchar Saathi or by texting KYM followed by the IMEI to 14422.
• Report fraud calls and messages, including on WhatsApp, through Chakshu. If you have lost money, call 1930 and file at cybercrime.gov.in.
• If your phone is lost or stolen, file a police report, get a duplicate SIM, then block the handset via CEIR on Sanchar Saathi. The OTP only works 24 hours after the new SIM is activated.
• Expect WhatsApp and other apps to ask you to verify your SIM before the end of 2026. Keep the SIM for your registered number in the phone you use.