SIM Binding will Create a Painful Future for Indian Consumers

Indian government is pushing for the implementation of SIM binding for the OTT (over-the-top) messaging apps. Here’s the thing the government is not considering. The consumers are not happy. Rules are meant to protect, policies are meant to ensure national security is never at stake, but they also have to reflect convenience. We use these platforms because they are convenient. With the SIM binding rules, the government is effectively enforcing some inconvenience to the users’ lives. The reason for this is national security.

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Jyotiraditya Scindia, union telecom minister recently said that when it comes to national security, the government is not going to look away. Thus SIM binding is coming, whether the users, or the tech companies like it or not. What’s SIM binding?

SIM binding is basically the government forcing OTT messaging apps such as WhatsApp to log-out users from their secondary or companion devices which don’t have the SIM. Currently, many messaging apps allow users to stay logged in multiple devices at the same time. This is what the government wants to change. If the app is in the phone which has the SIM, then it is fine. But the phones or laptops or other devices which do not have the SIM card, on them users will need to log-in very frequently.

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The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) had issued directions on this to the messaging apps including WhatsApp, Telegram, Snapchat, Signal, ShareChat, and JioChat. The government of India is putting a special emphasis on security when it comes to the cyber world. Along with this, we expect many more rules to come and be implemented in the future to ensure that the consumers are safe.