SIM Binding May Disrupt Business, New Report Finds

A new report by Esya Centre indicates that SIM binding regulations may significantly disrupt business operations in India. The survey found that almost all consumers surveyed found SIM binding inconvenient, and 82% of small businesses anticipate that forced logouts will disrupt operations.

The study, which surveyed 2,033 consumers and 353 small businesses across 18 and 17 cities respectively, questions the policy's effectiveness in combating fraud. It notably points out that the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has not measured the extent of fraud conducted through accounts that remain active even after SIM removal, despite claiming to solve this issue in a November 2025 directive.

According to the report, approximately 86% of businesses use a single business number across multiple devices, and 92% access messaging services via laptops, desktops, or tablets. 75.6% of these businesses employ at least two or three individuals to manage customer communications. Forced logouts could lead to increased costs, additional device purchases, and higher headcount needs, as anticipated by nearly 60% of surveyed businesses.

Both consumers and businesses expressed skepticism regarding the security benefits of SIM binding. 59.2% of consumers and 81% of businesses stated that SIM binding would not make communication safer. The report recommends a risk-based approach that focuses identity-linked controls on fraud pathways where identity misuse is demonstrably central.

Esya Centre's report relies on opinions, and details regarding its methodology and sampling methods are not publicly available. Furthermore, the fieldwork concluded before the DoT removed the six-hour logout requirement in April 2026. The report argues that many prevalent attack vectors, such as malware and session hijacking, operate at the software level rather than through weaknesses in SIM identification.