PTA introduces new deadline for disowning newly activated SIMs

The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has announced stricter rules to prevent illegal SIM issuance and unauthorized mobile registrations across the country.

Under the new policy, the SIM disowning period has been increased from 60 days to 365 days. This means a newly activated SIM can now only be disowned after one year from its activation date.

PTA said the step has been taken to improve security in the telecom sector and protect citizens’ personal data. The authority also warned people to be careful while giving biometric verification for SIM registration, as misuse of fingerprints can lead to illegal SIM activity.

Citizens are advised to regularly check how many SIMs are registered on their CNIC. They can verify this by visiting the official SIM information system or by sending their CNIC number (without dashes) to 668 via SMS.

The PTA has also asked users to immediately report any unknown or suspicious SIMs to their mobile network operators. Officials stressed that only SIMs in personal use should be registered on an individual’s CNIC, and urged the public to stay alert to avoid misuse.