A new rule has been issued by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) for the SIM card buyers in India. The TRAI rule, which shall come to effect from July 1, will impact those mobile phone users who are in the process of or either planning to port their number to a different operator.
TRAI Implements New Mobile Number Portability Rule
As per TRAI’s Mobile Number Portability (MNP) rule, if the users have replaced or bought a new physical card in the last seven days, they shall not be able to port their numbers.
Rule to Circumvent Fraudulent SIM Swap Practices
Aimed to curb unscrupulous elements from benefitting from this, TRAI said in its release that “These amendment regulations are aimed at curbing the practice of porting of mobile numbers by way of fraudulent SIM swap or replacement by unscrupulous elements. Through these amendment regulations, an additional criterion for rejection of the request for allocation of UPC has been introduced”.
Additionally, it said that “Specifically, the UPC should not be allocated if the request for UPC has been made before the expiry of seven days from the date of SIM swap or replacement of the mobile number.”
