The government decides to block SIMs of those who do not renew their identity cards in phases

Islamabad: As a measure of national security, the federal government has started the process of blocking more than 4.9 million mobile phone SIMs registered on expired identity cards.
The instructions were issued by the Ministry of Interior on the recommendations of NADRA, which are being implemented by the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA).
According to official data, 4,960,611 SIMs are registered on identity cards that have either not been renewed or whose owners have passed away.
In the first phase, SIMs registered on identity cards that expired in 2017 will be blocked by June 30, 2025.
After this, SIMs with 2018 CNICs will be blocked by July 31, 2019; by August 31, 2020; by September 30, 2021; by October 31, 2022; and by November 30, 2022.
In the final phase, SIMs with CNICs that expire between 2023 and 2025 will be blocked by December 31, 2025.
According to officials, this step is very important for the protection of the digital system and the prevention of identity fraud. Citizens have been appealed to renew their CNICs on time so that mobile services are not affected.