SIM cards are not be issued to minors: DoT

Sept. 26: The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has said that SIM cards should not be issued to minors in India. This means that any person under the age of 18 cannot purchase SIM cards from any of the telecom operators in the country. However, there is more to it than meets the eye. A telecom operator can’t simply sell a new SIM card to any person even above 18 years of age. Selling a SIM card to a minor or an ineligible person will be an illegal activity by the telecom operator.

An official email from DoT to all telecom operators in this regard read as follows:-SIM(s) should not be issued to minors. CAF is a contract. It is also understood that only those persons who are competent to contract who are age of majority. And an agreement not enforceable by law is said to be void.

As per the above DoT directions, no mobile operator in the country are allowed to sell mobile SIM cards to minors. It is the responsibility of the telecom service provider to comply to the DoT guidelines. The CAFs signed by minors are not having any legal value and hence such connections are considered as invalid CAF.

I am a Minor. How Can I use a Mobile Connection?

As per Indian laws and Department of Telecommunication (DoT) guidelines, you are not allowed to subscribe to a mobile connection. However, you can use the mobile connection which is activated in the name of your parent if you really want to use the service.

How Many Mobile Connections can be taken by an individual in his / her name ?

As per the latest Government directions, a person can avail maximum of 18 mobile connections in his/her name which includes 9 SIMs that can be used for normal mobile phone communications or for use in devices which has slot for them. The other 9 SIMs can be purchased for M2M communications. According to the guidelines, in case where M2M are required to be pre-installed in devices, it will be responsibility of device makers to complete subscriber verification. However, it will be responsibility of the person or end user to update subscriber details if he or she transfers device to other user.