PTA Clarifies SIM Limit: Maximum 5 SIMs Allowed on One CNIC

Islamabad: The Chairman of the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has provided important details regarding the number of SIM cards that can be registered against a single CNIC during a meeting of the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Interior.

During the meeting, the PTA Chairman stated that a maximum of five SIM cards can be registered against one CNIC. Once this limit is reached, a sixth SIM cannot be obtained using the same CNIC.

According to the PTA Chairman, 125 raids were conducted in collaboration with law enforcement agencies as part of operations against cybercrime. During these operations, 25,000 SIM cards were recovered, while 171 individuals were arrested.

He further stated that approximately 1.8 million SIM cards have been blocked over the past two and a half to three years. He said that the security of biometric records needs to be strengthened further, and work is being carried out in collaboration with NADRA to upgrade the system for this purpose.

The PTA Chairman informed the committee that biometric records of approximately 600,000 individuals were also recovered during various operations. He explained that wherever biometric information is stored, there can sometimes be a risk of data leakage from those locations, making it necessary to further improve security systems.

He added that mobile phone companies have also been involved in the process so that measures to prevent the use of illegal SIM cards can be made more effective.