FACT-CHECK: Customers will NOT be charged for holding multiple SIMs

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has put an end to speculations that it intends to impose charges on customers for holding multiple SIMs or numbering resources. Terming the reports as "unequivocally false", TRAI said that such claims are unfounded and aimed only at misleading people.

In a statement issued on Friday, TRAI said: "It has come to our attention that some media houses (print, electronic, and social media) have reported that TRAI has proposed introducing fees for mobile and landline numbers with aim to ensure the efficient allocation and use of these ‘finite resources’. The speculation that TRAI intends to impose charges on customers for holding multiple SIMs/numbering resources is unequivocally false. Such claims are unfounded and serve only to mislead the public."

The clarification from TRAI comes a day after multiple media reports claimed that the telecom regulator had proposed introducing fees for mobile and landline numbers. The claim was made citing a consultation paper from June 6, 2024 that suggested that mobile operators might face charges for these numbers and that these charges could subsequently be passed on to consumers.

On Friday, TRAI said that the Consultation Paper was aimed at assessing factors currently affecting the allocation and utilization of Telecommunication Identifier (TI) resources. It also seeks to suggest modifications that will refine allocation policies and utilization procedures, "thereby ensuring a sufficient reserve of TI resources for present and future requirements".

"TRAI has consistently been advocative of minimum regulatory intervention promoting forbearance and the self-regulation of market forces. We unequivocally repudiate and emphatically condemn any spurious conjectures that perpetuate the circulation of such misleading information concerning the consultation paper at hand," TRAI added.