Quick Read
- NTC ordered SIM deactivation for lines held by subscribers with more than 100 SIMs under one name who fail know-your-client checks, which telcos must run within 15 days of receiving the order.
- Lines whose holders cannot show continued possession, control and legitimate use must be deactivated, and NTC says the action is permanent without ID proof of personal registration.
- The threshold is narrow, since a 2023 NTC order already told telcos to prioritize individuals with more than five SIMs per telco.
- Users of numbers registered in someone else’s name, especially numbers tied to bank, wallet and platform logins, are the group NTC itself has warned.
- Telcos carry the validation workload, and no count of affected lines has been reported.
The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) has ordered mobile network operators to validate every subscriber holding more than 100 SIMs under one name, and to carry out SIM deactivation on any line whose holder cannot prove possession, control and legitimate use. Telcos have 15 days from receipt of the order. The stated targets are organized scam operations, fraudulent financial transactions and illegal SMS blasting. The people NTC has itself warned are different: anyone using a number registered in someone else’s name, particularly one tied to a bank, wallet or online platform.
The Order Sets a 15-Day Clock for Telcos
NTC announced the order on Wednesday, October 28, and said it was issued the day before. Mobile network operators have 15 days from receiving it to run know-your-client checks on subscribers with more than 100 SIMs registered under one name. The checks test whether those subscribers still hold and control every SIM and use them for legitimate purposes. Lines that fail face SIM deactivation. The order also reaches SIMs sold or transferred without following registration procedures, which the SIM Registration Act treats as a criminal offense.
The clock starts at each operator’s receipt, and receipt dates have not been reported. If an operator received the order the day it was issued, the deadline falls around November 11. NTC said legitimate subscribers who registered properly and use their SIMs lawfully are not the intended targets.
The 100-SIM Threshold Is Narrower Than It Sounds
Republic Act No. 11934 sets no limit on how many SIMs one person can register, so NTC is not capping anything. Holding more than 100 triggers validation. SIM deactivation follows only if the holder cannot show possession, control and legitimate use. NTC asked Congress in 2024 for authority to periodically regulate how many SIMs one person may own. Under the law as it stands, the order works through a legitimacy test instead of a cap.
Bulk registration was already on NTC’s list. Its September 18, 2023 memorandum order told telcos to prioritize validation of individuals who register more than five SIMs per telco and of companies that register more than 100. This order adds a 15-day deadline and deactivation for individuals who fail the possession test.
A per-name threshold only reaches registrations stacked under one name. In March 2025 NTC said it would study requiring personal appearance for registration, aimed at people selling their identities, and that telcos had deactivated over three million SIMs. Registrations spread across many bought identities can sit below any single-name count, so the order reaches the crude cases first.
SIM Deactivation Lands Hardest on Borrowed Numbers
NTC urged the public to confirm that the SIMs they personally use are registered in their own names, especially numbers tied to banking apps, online platforms and mobile payment services. It said this would help avoid inconvenience once telcos begin mass SIM deactivation. Reports on the order add that the drive could affect legitimate subscribers using SIMs registered under another person’s name.
NTC Deputy Commissioner Alvin Blanco said deactivation is permanent unless the person proves, with proper ID, that the SIM is registered personally under their name. A user whose number was registered by someone else cannot meet that test. The trigger is the registrant’s count, and a user has no obvious way to know it.
After SIM deactivation, banks and wallets that send one-time passwords to the number will no longer reach that user. Account recovery then falls to each platform’s own process. No count of affected lines has been reported.
Telcos Carry the Validation Work
Telcos must complete these checks in 15 days, on a number of accounts that has not been disclosed. Globe said in 2023 that its ID validation was constrained by the lack of access to a database for verifying submitted IDs. NTC has since recommended that agencies issuing government IDs build a validation platform telcos can use. The reports on this order do not say whether one exists. Telcos hold the registration records, and banks and wallets hold the accounts those numbers open, so a deactivation on one side becomes a lockout on the other.
The law sets no cap on SIMs per person, so NTC is testing whether holders actually possess what they registered. Telcos carry the validation work, and users with numbers registered in someone else’s name carry the loss when a line goes dark. For those users, the first failure will be the one-time password that opens a bank or wallet login.
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