WhatsApp and More to be Affected in India by this New Rule

WhatsApp, a major social media platform, along with other similar platforms such as Telegram, Signal, and more will be affected by a new rule from the Department of Telecommunication (DoT). The telecom department is pushing for these OTT communication apps to be binded with the SIM card of the user. Currently, platforms like WhatsApp allow users to log-into multiple companion devices. These devices don’t need the SIM card to be physically present on them.

• Make Telecom Talk My Trusted Source
• 
• 

Read More – BSNL Beats Vi in Subscriber Growth Despite Weaker Network

With the new notification from DoT, the platforms now have 90-days to ensure that they bind their apps with the SIM cards of the users. If the platforms fail to implement the mandated SIM binding, then the telecom department will impose penal provisions. Further, when the user is logged into the web and desktop versions of the apps, then the platform must log-them out automatically every six hours and require reauthentication through QR code pairing.

This mandate on the SIM card binding from DoT has come after a year of negotiations and discussions between the OTT firms and DoT officials. This rule is supposed to ensure safety and security of the individuals accessing these platforms. Many frauds today take place because these platforms can be accessed on different devices without the need of SIM. That is what the telecom department intends to change.