Overview
- The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority has launched a public-awareness campaign urging mobile users to renew expired or invalid CNICs and update SIM registration to avoid suspension.
- NADRA told officials that about 4,906,611 SIMs are marked for phased blocking if they remain linked to cancelled, expired, or deceased identity records.
- PTA warned that numbers disconnected this way can make linked services such as WhatsApp inaccessible because those apps use the phone number for login and account recovery.
- Users are being told to visit operator franchises or customer service centers for biometric verification and to transfer any app accounts to a verified SIM to prevent unexpected logouts.
- Pakistan requires SIMs to be registered to NADRA-issued CNICs, and authorities say this enforcement builds on past biometric checks as a security measure to reduce fraud and fake registrations.