Top News

Purpose of new rules

The Department of Telecommunications, Government of India has planned important changes for online messaging platforms. According to the information, popular apps like WhatsApp, Signal, and Telegram will now have to provide their services only if the user’s phone has the same SIM card through which he had registered. Due to this change, services like WhatsApp Web will automatically log out every six hours, changing the way users get continued access.

boost cyber security

The government has taken this step to stop the increasing digital fraud in the country. The department says that many cyber criminals sitting outside India commit fraud using these messaging apps, because currently these services do not consistently verify the actual presence of the SIM. For this reason, the requirement of SIM binding has been implemented under Telecommunication Identity Fire Use Identity (TIUE), according to which any platform has to ensure the identity of the user through the mobile number and IMSI present in the SIM.

Role of IMSI

IMSI, i.e. International Mobile Subscriber Identity, is a unique identification recorded on every SIM card, which is linked to the identity of any mobile subscriber globally. The implementation of the new rules will require messaging companies to make major technical changes to their systems, especially for global platforms like WhatsApp, which has over 500 million subscribers in India.

User concerns

However, many industry representatives have expressed concern about these instructions. Some officials say that users traveling abroad may face the most difficulty, as they will no longer be able to run their regular apps in the same way using a local SIM card. Additionally, logging out of web sessions every six hours can be challenging for professional users, as many rely on WhatsApp Web without a phone in the office.

questions on effectiveness

Industry experts have also raised questions as to how effective these instructions will be, as many cyber criminals already obtain illegal SIM cards through fake documents, which conceal their true identity.

government’s focus

Overall, the government is focused on strengthening cyber security, while tech companies and users are concerned that this will have a negative impact on privacy, multi-device convenience and user experience. All companies will have to submit compliance reports to the Department of Telecommunications within four months, after which the true impact of the new rules will be visible.