The Indian government has extended the SIM-binding deadline for messaging apps like WhatsApp and Telegram to December 31, offering the industry more time to comply with cybersecurity measures designed to combat digital fraud.
The government has extended the SIM-binding deadline for mobile messaging apps such as WhatsApp, Telegram, Signal, etc., to December 31 following requests from the industry, according to sources.
The SIM-binding rule mandates messaging platforms to provide their service on a mobile device only if there is an active SIM available in it.
The Department of Telecom (DoT) has also removed the mandatory six-hour log-out rule for the web version of apps to a risk analysis-based log-out.
The DoT issued directions to major app-based communication service providers on November 28, 2025, to ensure that their services are continuously linked to the active SIM card in the device from February 26 and report compliance by March 28.
"The government has extended the deadline for applicability of SIM-binding rule to December 31 following representation from the industry players," an official source told PTI.
The directive earlier mandated apps to log out users after six hours from the web version of messaging platforms.
Now, instead of six hours, users will be logged out based on AI-enabled risk analysis by the messaging platforms, another source said.
DoT had issued SIM-binding directions to plug the security gap that cybercriminals were found to be exploiting to run large-scale, often cross-border, digital frauds.
According to DoT, accounts on instant messaging and calling apps continue to work even after the associated SIM is removed, deactivated or moved abroad, enabling anonymous scams, remote "digital arrest" frauds and government impersonation calls using Indian numbers.
The department had said mandatory continuous SIM device-binding and periodic logout ensure that every active account and web session is anchored to a live, KYC-verified SIM, restoring traceability of numbers used in phishing, investment, digital arrest and loan scams.
The department, in a statement, had said long-lived web or desktop sessions let fraudsters control victims' accounts from distant locations without needing the original device, or SIM, which complicates tracing and takedown.
Industry players, however, had opposed the move.
Broadband India Forum, an industry body that represents major tech firms like Meta, Google, and others, questioned the legal validity of the government's SIM-binding mandate, citing a senior counsel's opinion that termed the direction as "ultra vires the parent legislation" and "unconstitutional".
In a letter dated February 23 to DoT Secretary Amit Agrawal, BIF highlighted the legal opinion, which concluded that the Telecommunications (Telecom Cyber Security) Amendment Rules, 2025, and recent directives regarding SIM binding exceed the authority granted by the parent Telecommunications Act of 2023.
Think tank Cuts International released a survey-based report which said 80 per cent of consumers and over 60 per cent of small and medium businesses anticipated operational disruption under mandatory SIM-binding measures.
As per the Cuts survey, approximately 86 per cent of users said they allow family members to use their phone or SIM for messaging.
The survey found that in 39 per cent of such cases, the primary SIM holder may physically not be present around users in situations when authentication may be required, increasing the likelihood of access delays or disruptions.