The buffer period for new SIM cards has been extended from eight hours to seven days, according to a change made to the standard operating procedure (SOP) by the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA).
In an effort to dispel misunderstandings regarding its January 18 letter titled “Increasing Buffer between New SIM Sale Sessions from 8 hours to 7 days,” the PTA made this statement.
At the moment, there is an 8-hour wait between consecutive NADRA biometric verifications for transactions using SIM cards. In order to combat the strategies used by the fraud mafia, who frequently activate several illegal SIM cards fast for fraudulent operations under the guise of consumer surveys, non-profit organisations, and free ration schemes for defenceless residents, the same is being extended to seven days for the new SIM alone, according to the PTA.
The telecommunications body went on to say that while a subscriber will have to wait seven days for NADRA biometric verification before receiving a second new SIM on the same CNIC, the first new SIM can be supplied instantly on a CNIC through biometric verification.
According to the PTA, the modification to the SOP has no impact on the activation of multiple SIM cards or other SIM-related operations, including ownership transfers and mobile number portability (MNP).
The SOP change, which is a component of the regulatory actions intended to prevent the unauthorised or fraudulent issue of SIM cards, will take effect on January 24.
