Operators asked to delay the entry into force of new rules for the sale of SIM cards to foreigners

Starting in January 2025, a foreign citizen will be able to purchase a SIM card only if he registers in the Unified Biometric System (SUB). After this, the operator will have to verify their biometric data in the EBS, but communication workshops do not yet have the necessary equipment and operators will not have time to implement it until the end of 2024, they indicated.

MTS stated that the salons are not equipped with special equipment or software and are not integrated with EBS, so most points will not be able to implement the requirements within the specified time frame. For this reason, MTS proposed to postpone the introduction of new measures until April 2025.

Megafon has comments similar to the draft order: operators do not process biometric data and can only transfer to EBS a photo of the client from the biometric terminal in the salon, representatives of the operator said. Beeline added that the implementation of the requirements for EBS and limit verification are “quite laborious processes” that are difficult to complete before the end of 2024, and the statutes that would establish the final schemes and scenarios for the implementation of these requirements still They have not been adopted.

• The State Duma adopted a law in July limiting the number of SIM cards for foreigners.
• According to the new rules, from January 2025, foreign citizens will not be able to issue more than 10 SIM cards per person.
• The changes will also affect Russians: from April 2025 they will not be able to purchase more than 20 SIM cards per subscriber.