The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has proposed mandatory eSIM PTA registration for firms that provide travel SIMs and eSIMs, meaning a digital phone line rather than a plastic card. Under the draft International Roaming (Inbound) Regulations, 2026, nobody could operate in Pakistan as a travel SIM or eSIM aggregator without prior registration with the PTA. The same draft would require mobile operators to verify people who use Pakistani networks on a foreign SIM or eSIM. Written comments are due by 10 November 2026, and the rules would start only after notification in the official Gazette.
What the draft asks of providers
The draft follows concerns that foreign travel eSIMs can be activated in Pakistan without local identity verification, creating problems of subscriber traceability, financial fraud and national security. An applicant would submit registration forms, the prescribed fees and supporting documents, and would disclose associated foreign mobile operators, network providers, distribution channels and a local contact for regulatory coordination.
A registered provider could distribute, provision or activate travel SIMs and eSIM profiles only through a valid arrangement with a licensed operator or a foreign home operator. The framework proposes annual registration fees, security deposits and renewal, and the PTA could suspend or cancel a registration for non-compliance. Providers would set up data-sharing with the authority and report issued or activated SIMs and eSIMs, customer identity verification and usage summaries. They may also have to connect to a designated portal or an application programming interface (API), a system-to-system link, so reporting of activations can be near-real-time or periodic.
Checks on visitors using foreign SIMs
Mobile operators would have to introduce Know Your Customer (KYC) checks, a standard test of who holds the line, for incoming roaming users. Those checks could ask for passport or travel-document details, nationality, SIM or eSIM information, arrival dates, expected length of stay and the name of the foreign mobile operator. The PTA says international roaming connections currently operate without local identity verification, which makes it difficult to trace users involved in fraud. The authority has highlighted spoofed calls, SMS phishing, extortion, e-commerce fraud and misuse of social media accounts through foreign SIMs and eSIMs.
Identity information could be collected through a verification link in a welcome SMS, a PTA-approved digital portal, coordination with immigration and border control authorities, or registered travel SIM and eSIM aggregators. Operators would keep verification records for at least 12 months after a user stops roaming, unless the PTA prescribes a different period. The draft also includes measures to monitor permanent roaming, restrict abusive use and block connections involved in illegal activities. This foreign SIM regulation is still at consultation stage, so any eSIM PTA registration would apply only after the Gazette notification, and the PTA may revise the draft after feedback.
SIMs the PTA has already ordered blocked
Separately, the PTA has ordered operators to block fraudulently issued SIMs immediately. The amendments are the Subscriber Antecedents Verification (Third Amendment) Regulations, 2026, notified through SRO 1519(I)/2026 in the Gazette of Pakistan; antecedents means the identity record behind a SIM. Operators must also immediately block the International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI), the number that identifies a handset, of devices used to issue or activate such SIMs, including devices last reported in connection with those connections. A blocked SIM or a biometric verification system (BVS) device may be restored after verification if the operator records a reasonable justification, particularly when a genuine subscriber is affected.
NADRA, the National Database and Registration Authority, will tell operators when a holder of a Computerized National Identity Card (CNIC) or a National Identity Card for Overseas Pakistanis (NICOP) dies, after which operators must SMS every SIM in that name and block it if ownership is not transferred within 60 days. Where a CNIC or NICOP has been cancelled, confiscated or impounded, operators must notify the subscriber by SMS with the reason and block the SIM within five days unless NADRA updates the status in that period. Blocked SIMs can be restored once the authority confirms that the identity document has been reinstated. Cellular mobile operators and NADRA must also run an automated system covering expiry, renewal, death, cancellation, confiscation and impounding of these cards for activated SIMs, and operators must share the verified mobile number, known as an MSISDN, with NADRA after checks.
Aasan alfaaz mein
PTA ne travel SIM aur eSIM dene wali companies ke liye registration ka draft rakha hai, jo abhi amal mein nahi aaya. Bahar ki SIM par passport ki tafseel Gazette ke baad maangi ja sakti hai. Dhoke se nikli SIM foran band karne ka hukm alag se notify ho chuka hai. Marhoom ke naam par SIM ho to 60 din mein transfer na hone se woh band ho sakti hai.
