If you have multiple mobile numbers in your name, this information is important for you. The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has issued new guidelines regarding the mobile connection limit. Telecom companies will now be required to identify customers who have more mobile connections in their name than the prescribed limit.
For this, the customer’s photo, available on the department’s Digital Intelligence Platform (DIP), will be used. Under the new guidelines, action will be taken to bring the numbers of customers with multiple connections within the prescribed limit. Let us explain how DoT will investigate this action for over-limit SIM cards.
According to DoT’s December 7, 2021, guidelines, a person can have a maximum of 9 mobile connections in their name across different telecom companies and in different service areas across the country. However, in Jammu and Kashmir, Assam, and the Northeast Licensed Service Area, this limit is 6 mobile connections. If a customer has more than the prescribed limit, they will be required to deactivate the additional numbers. Failure to do so may result in subsequent mobile connections being deactivated, ensuring the total number of mobile numbers in the customer’s name falls within the prescribed limit.
The DoT has established a new system to address the difficulty faced by telecom companies in identifying the number of mobile numbers operating in a given individual’s name across different companies and service areas. The Digital Intelligence Platform (DIP) will be used for this purpose. Based on customer data uploaded by telecom companies, the DIP will identify mobile connections operating in the name of the same individual across different companies and service areas. These connections will be grouped by the respective customer’s name, and this information will be available to telecom companies through the DIP.
According to the DoT’s new circular dated August 17, 2026, representative images of customers who have reached the prescribed limit of mobile connections in their name will be made available on the DIP from August 23, 2026. Telecom companies will be required to download these images daily. The purpose is to identify whether a person who has reached the prescribed limit is trying to obtain a new mobile connection again.
From August 24, 2026, telecom companies will be required to use technical and organizational measures to identify customers who are attempting to obtain more mobile connections than the prescribed limit. Upon identification, the customer will be informed that they already have the maximum number of mobile connections in their name and therefore, a new connection cannot be granted. Initially, this process can be performed on a D+1 basis, i.e., the next day. However, the DoT has set a deadline of November 30, 2026, to implement this in real-time in the process of obtaining and activating mobile connections.
Until the telecom company fully implements this system, any mobile connection activated beyond the prescribed limit will be immediately suspended. After this, the issue of exceeding the prescribed limit will have to be resolved. The DoT’s directive aims to ensure that every person obtains and uses mobile connections within the prescribed limit.