Amendment to the existing KYC instructions for the M2M connections

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On March 21, 2024, the Department of Telecommunications (“DoT”) released an amendment to the existing know your customer (“KYC”) instructions for M2M connections (“M2M KYC Amendment”) addressed to licensed telecom service providers (“TSP”), relaxing the restrictive features for M2M connections. Through the M2M KYC Amendment, the DoT has relaxed the erstwhile instructions of May 16, 2018, and May 30, 2019 (“Erstwhile Instructions”) in relation to the restrictive features for the subscriber identity module (“SIM”) cards used only for M2M communication services.

The M2M KYC Amendment has amended the Erstwhile Instructions to allow the use of SIM cards for M2M communications services in the following manner:

Outgoing / incoming calls will be allowed to/from predefined set of maximum 4 (four) numbers only.
Likewise outgoing / incoming SMSs will be allowed to/from predefined set of maximum 4 (four) numbers only.
Data communications will be allowed on a maximum of 100 (one hundred) predefined public internet protocol (“IP”) addresses/ uniform resource locator (“URLs”) with fixed access point name (APNs) or equivalent technology options by the TSPs.
These restrictions are not applicable to calls made to emergency numbers like police, fire, ambulance, etc.

A list of such numbers/IP addresses is to be provided to the TSPs while obtaining M2M SIM cards. At a later stage, if the need arises, the TSPs can be requested to change/reconfigure these numbers and will not apply to data communication on private networks/VPNs.

Conclusion

With the relaxation in the restrictions on data communication through the M2M KYC Amendment, data communications to a large number (100(one hundred)) predefined public IP addresses/URLs can now be undertaken which is likely to allow the M2M service providers to offer the services to a wider customer base without the use of multiple SIM cards.

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