The DoT is forcing SIM binding on WhatsApp, Signal, and Telegram. This means your WhatsApp Web session will log out every six hours. We’re tracking the new Telecommunication Cybersecurity Amendment Rules, 2025, the government’s fraud rationale, and the painful impact on 500 million users.
This is a big one. A huge one, if you rely on that endless, open WhatsApp tab at work. That whole seamless multi-device experience? It’s basically dead in India.
The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) just dropped a directive. It’s heavy. It’s forcing major messaging apps—we’re talking WhatsApp, Signal, Telegram, those too—to completely re-engineer how they handle user verification.
The thing is, they call it “SIM binding.”
The Core Mandate
It’s all driven by the new Telecommunication Cybersecurity Amendment Rules, 2025. This introduces the idea of a Telecommunication Identifier User Entity. The short version? If you use a mobile number to identify users, you’re under the DoT’s thumb now.
The platforms have 90 days to comply. And here is what it means on the ground:
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SIM Must Be Present: The app has to continuously check if the original SIM card—the one you registered with—is physically present in the device and active. You remove it, you swap it, you go abroad and change the SIM? The app stops working. Simple as that.
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The Six-Hour Kill: This is what’s going to disrupt daily use. The web versions, like WhatsApp Web, must now be forcibly logged out every six hours. You hit that window. And then you need to re-authenticate. Scan the QR code again. Like clockwork.
Why They’re Doing This
The government rationale? Cyber fraud. They say criminals, often operating from outside the country, exploit the current system. Right now, you get an OTP once. The app works forever, even if the SIM is deactivated or ditched. That loophole happened. And then the fraudsters followed.
Forcing SIM binding gives the government a hard physical trace to a subscriber. That’s the official goal.
The Industry Freakout
It’s a massive headache for the platforms. WhatsApp has over 500 million users in India. This isn’t a minor tweak; it means re-engineering a global system just for India.
The industry is worried. Tech companies say this constantly checking the SIM and those six-hour logouts—it’s going to erode user privacy. It’s going to absolutely wreck multi-device convenience. Imagine being a small business relying on WhatsApp on a PC all day. That workflow? Broken. Every six hours.
International comparisons don’t help, either. No other country has this level of SIM linkage. Telecom operators, funnily enough, they support the move. They see it as a necessary step.
The clock is ticking. 90 days. The forced logouts start once those platforms finish the compliance. Get ready to scan that QR code a lot more often. It’s an ongoing situation until we see how platforms like WhatsApp figure out the technical solution for this.
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