Supreme Court Allows Reuse of Inactive SIM Cards, Mandates Privacy Protection

Kathmandu. The Supreme Court has cleared the way for telecom operators to recycle and reissue long-inactive SIM cards, while mandating strict privacy protections for previous users and requiring a mechanism to reserve numbers upon customer request temporarily.

The full text of a verdict issued by a joint bench of Supreme Court justices Dr. Manoj Kumar Sharma and Mahesh Sharma Paudel on January 9, 2025, was recently made public. Earlier, following a writ petition filed by advocate Sapana Bhandari in January 2023, the court had issued an interim order halting the recycling and resale of inactive SIM cards.

During the hearing, telecom service providers argued that mobile numbers and radio frequencies are limited national resources and that operators must continue paying renewal fees even for inactive SIM cards. The court acknowledged this concern and concluded that long-unused numbers may be reallocated to new users.

However, the court emphasized that mobile numbers have evolved into a form of digital identity. Since they are linked to banking services, one-time passwords (OTPs), and various digital authentication systems, the recycling of SIM cards must fully safeguard the right to privacy guaranteed under Article 28 of the Constitution.

To address these concerns, the Supreme Court issued three directive orders to the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, the Nepal Telecommunications Authority, Nepal Telecom, Ncell, and other concerned parties.

Under the directives, authorities and service providers must adopt the necessary policy and technical measures to protect users' privacy effectively. They must also provide prior notice to previous users before reassigning their SIM numbers.

Similarly, the court ordered telecom operators to ensure that data and information associated with former users cannot be accessed by new subscribers when a recycled SIM card is issued.

The verdict further states that before a SIM card is deactivated, users must be given adequate information regarding the cancellation process, including the reasons the number may become unusable and the possibility of it being reassigned in the future. The judgment notes that provisions should be made so that a number used by a customer is not immediately allocated to another individual for a certain period.

In their submissions, telecom operators and the regulator had argued that maintaining inactive numbers indefinitely would place a financial burden on service providers and reduce the availability of numbers for new customers, given the limited nature of numbering resources and frequencies.

On the other hand, the petitioner argued that many Nepalis who travel abroad for employment or education wish to continue using their old numbers upon return. Under the existing policy, SIM cards that remain unused for six months can be cancelled and reassigned, creating risks related to identity verification and access to digital services.

With this ruling, the Supreme Court has allowed the reallocation of inactive SIM cards subject to the three privacy-related conditions outlined in the verdict. The court also ruled that there is no need to revoke the existing provision that allows SIM cards to be cancelled after six months of inactivity.

The decision means telecom operators can resume the resale of inactive SIM cards after implementing the required technical and policy safeguards. It also opens the door for customers who plan to stay abroad or are unable to use their SIM cards for an extended period to notify their service provider in advance and request that their number be kept on hold.

पछिल्लो अध्यावधिक: असार ९, २०८३ १८:३५