{"id":57548,"date":"2025-10-25T18:45:44","date_gmt":"2025-10-25T13:15:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/?p=57548"},"modified":"2025-10-25T19:04:12","modified_gmt":"2025-10-25T13:34:12","slug":"telecom-cyber-security-rules-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/25-10-2025\/telecom-cyber-security-rules-2025","title":{"rendered":"The Telecommunications (Telecom Cyber Security) Amendment Rules, 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Syllabus: GS3\/Cybersecurity<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Context<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>The Telecommunications (Telecom Cyber Security) Amendment Rules, 2025<\/strong>, were notified by the Department of Telecommunications.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Key Amendments<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>TIUEs: <\/strong>The rules create a new category called <strong>Telecommunication Identifier User Entities (TIUEs),<\/strong> covering any business that uses phone numbers to identify customers or deliver services \u2014 except licensed telecom operators.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>TIUEs must now comply with government directives on suspending phone numbers, respond to data requests and verify customer identities as prescribed by authorities.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Broad Scope:<\/strong> The government has brought all digital services that use mobile numbers \u2014 from WhatsApp and payment apps to food delivery platforms \u2014 under telecom cybersecurity regulations.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>This brings platforms such as Zomato, Swiggy, PhonePe, Paytm, Ola, Uber and messaging services under the same regulatory framework that governs Airtel and Jio.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Mobile number verification (MNV) system:<\/strong> It established a government-run MNV system and mandated database checks before buying or selling used phones.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>It will verify whether phone numbers provided by users correspond to legitimate telecom subscribers.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Immediate Action: <\/strong>The rules allow authorities to act immediately without prior notice if deemed necessary for \u201cpublic interest\u201d.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Suspension of Accounts: <\/strong>The rules empower authorities to order immediate suspension of user accounts across multiple services simultaneously.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>It can order both telecom operators and apps to suspend its use.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Used Phone Sales Require Checks: <\/strong>Anyone buying or selling a used mobile phone must now verify its International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) number against a government database before completing the transaction.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The database will list IMEI numbers of devices that have been tampered with, reported stolen, or restricted for fraud or security reasons.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Selling or purchasing devices with blacklisted IMEIs will be prohibited.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Government verification gateway:<\/strong> Apps and services can request validation through this government platform, either voluntarily or when directed by authorities. Government agencies will have assured access.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The system will check user-provided numbers against databases maintained by telecom operators like Airtel, Jio and Vi.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Need for the Amendments<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The measures are meant to <strong>target a cybercrime surge based on stolen or forged mobile connections and phone handsets.<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Financial Frauds:<\/strong> As per the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C), over 740,000 cyber crime cases were reported in just the first four months of 2024 85% related to online financial fraud.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Investment and trading scams often conducted through WhatsApp groups or Telegram channels using fake identities accounted for over 83,000 cases during that period.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Use of Mobile Phones: <\/strong>Criminals routinely use fake, stolen or cloned mobile numbers to bypass one-time password verification, create fraudulent accounts on platforms, and impersonate legitimate users.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The stolen phone market has emerged as a major enabler\u00a0 to conduct fraud whilst evading tracking.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The mandatory IMEI checks aim to disrupt this supply chain.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Source: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hindustantimes.com\/india-news\/govt-enforces-regulations-for-telecom-cyber-security-101761246752343.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>HT<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Context<\/strong><\/p>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">The Telecommunications (Telecom Cyber Security) Amendment Rules, 2025, were notified by the Department of Telecommunications.<\/li>\n<p><\/p>\n<p><strong>Key Amendments<\/strong><\/p>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">TIUEs: The rules create a new category called Telecommunication Identifier User Entities (TIUEs), covering any business that uses phone numbers to identify customers or deliver services \u2014 except licensed telecom operators.<\/li>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">TIUEs must now comply with government directives on suspending phone numbers, respond to data requests and verify customer identities as prescribed by authorities.<\/li>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">Broad Scope: The government has brought all digital services that use mobile numbers \u2014 from WhatsApp and payment apps to food delivery platforms \u2014 under telecom cybersecurity regulations.<\/li>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">This brings platforms such as Zomato, Swiggy, PhonePe, Paytm, Ola, Uber and messaging services under the same regulatory framework that governs Airtel and Jio.<\/li>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/25-10-2025\/telecom-cyber-security-rules-2025\" class=\"btn btn-primary btn-sm float-end\">Read\u00a0More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":57595,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-57548","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-current-affairs"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2025\/10\/telecom-cyber-security-rules-2025.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57548","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=57548"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57548\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":57567,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57548\/revisions\/57567"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/57595"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=57548"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=57548"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=57548"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}