{"id":93247,"date":"2016-04-08T12:08:37","date_gmt":"2016-04-08T11:08:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gsma.com\/solutions-and-impact\/connectivity-for-good\/public-policy\/gsma_resources\/mandatory-registration-prepaid-sim-cards"},"modified":"2025-04-15T19:23:48","modified_gmt":"2025-04-15T18:23:48","slug":"mandatory-registration-prepaid-sim-cards","status":"publish","type":"gsma_theme_resources","link":"https:\/\/www.gsma.com\/solutions-and-impact\/connectivity-for-good\/public-policy\/gsma_resources\/mandatory-registration-prepaid-sim-cards\/","title":{"rendered":"Mandatory registration of prepaid SIM cards"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>A number of countries have mandated the registration of prepaid SIM cards \u2013 a policy that requires mobile operators to check and record their customers\u2019 identity documents before selling\/activating their prepaid SIM cards.<\/p>\n<p>The GSMA published a white paper in February 2018, a study in April 2016 and an initial white paper in November 2013 on this topic.<\/p>\n<p>These reports highlight:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The challenges for consumers and operators where prepaid SIM registration is mandated without proper consideration of local market circumstances (such as citizens\u2019 access to official ID documents);<\/li>\n<li>Insights and best practices from different countries that have introduced this policy; and<\/li>\n<li>Recommendations for policymakers who are considering mandating or updating such SIM registration policies.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>PDF Downloads:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gsma.com\/mobilefordevelopment\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/Access-to-Mobile-Services-and-Proof-of-Identity.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Access to Mobile Services and Proof-of-Identity: Global policy trends, dependencies and risks (February 2018)<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gsma.com\/solutions-and-impact\/connectivity-for-good\/public-policy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/GSMA2016_Report_MandatoryRegistrationOfPrepaidSIMCards.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Mandatory Registration of Prepaid SIM cards: Addressing challenges through best practice (April 2016)<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gsma.com\/solutions-and-impact\/connectivity-for-good\/public-policy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/GSMA2013_WhitePaper_MandatoryRegistrationofPrepaidSIM-Users.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Mandatory Registration of Prepaid SIM card users: A white paper (November 2013)\u00a0<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A number of countries have mandated the registration of prepaid SIM cards \u2013 a policy that requires mobile operators to check and record their customers\u2019 identity documents before selling\/activating their prepaid SIM cards.<\/p>\n<p>The GSMA &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":106,"featured_media":0,"template":"","meta":{"image":"https:\/\/www.gsma.com\/solutions-and-impact\/connectivity-for-good\/public-policy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Screenshot-2019-02-16-at-13.57.37.png","json":{"gsma_resources_type":"Document","gsma_resources_thumb":"[20816]","gsma_resources_file":"[]","gsma_resources_multi":null,"gsma_resources_wgr":null,"gsma_resources_video":"","gsma_resources_image":"[]","gsma_resources_url":"\/solutions-and-impact\/connectivity-for-good\/public-policy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/GSMA2016_Report_MandatoryRegistrationOfPrepaidSIMCards.pdf","gsma_resources_date":"","gsma_resources_button":"Download"}},"tags":[],"resource_categories":[11164],"algolia_discover_type":[12151],"class_list":["post-93247","gsma_theme_resources","type-gsma_theme_resources","status-publish","hentry","resource_categories-data-privacy","algolia_discover_type-documents-and-reports"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v23.7 (Yoast SEO v25.6) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Mandatory registration of prepaid SIM cards - Public Policy<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.gsma.com\/solutions-and-impact\/connectivity-for-good\/public-policy\/gsma_resources\/mandatory-registration-prepaid-sim-cards\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Mandatory registration of prepaid SIM cards\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A number of countries have mandated the registration of prepaid SIM cards \u2013 a policy that requires mobile operators to check and record their customers\u2019 identity documents before selling\/activating their prepaid SIM cards.  The GSMA ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.gsma.com\/solutions-and-impact\/connectivity-for-good\/public-policy\/gsma_resources\/mandatory-registration-prepaid-sim-cards\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Public Policy\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-04-15T18:23:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Mandatory registration of prepaid SIM cards - Public Policy","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.gsma.com\/solutions-and-impact\/connectivity-for-good\/public-policy\/gsma_resources\/mandatory-registration-prepaid-sim-cards\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Mandatory registration of prepaid SIM cards","og_description":"A number of countries have mandated the registration of prepaid SIM cards \u2013 a policy that requires mobile operators to check and record their customers\u2019 identity documents before selling\/activating their prepaid SIM cards.  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