TRAI New SIM Rules: Why does SMS service get locked for 24 hours as soon as a new SIM card is inserted? Know the real reason

By Samira Vishwas On May 24, 2026

In this era of smartphones, it is very common for the SIM card to be lost, damaged or transferred to an e-SIM for a new phone. But have you ever noticed that whenever you insert a new SIM card in your phone, calls start coming and going immediately as soon as it is activated, but to use online payment apps like Google Pay, PhonePe or Paytm, you have to wait for a long time of 24 to 48 hours?

Zee News According to , there is no technical fault or network problem behind this, rather it is a very important security step taken by the telecom companies and the government.

Why is SMS service of your number blocked?

Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRA)TRAIAccording to the strict rules of SIM, as soon as a customer gets a new SIM card, does a SIM swap or upgrades his old number to e-SIM, all the telecom companies like Jio, Airtel and Vodafone-Idea (Vi) immediately come into action.

For security reasons, these companies completely stop all incoming and outgoing SMS services on your number for the next 24 hours. This is a very well thought out system, which automatically restarts without any additional process once the 24 hours are over.

There will be a strict ban on ‘SIM swap fraud’

The sole and biggest objective of implementing this rule is to protect the common consumers. SIM Swap Fraud Like protecting yourself from dangerous online scams.

What is SIM swap fraud? In recent times, many such cyber crimes have come to light where scammers used to get a duplicate or new SIM card issued in the name of another person by using fake documents. Once the number was activated, they would access the victim’s bank accounts and drain the entire account by getting the OTP sent directly to them.

Due to this new and strict rule of TRAI, criminals will no longer get a chance to do this. Even if someone fraudulently gets a fake SIM issued in your name, no message or OTP will be sent to that number for the first 24 hours. Meanwhile, the real user will get information about his SIM being blocked and he will be able to secure his account in time.

What will be closed during this 24 hour block?

When SMS services on your number are temporarily stopped, it directly impacts your digital and banking life. During this time you may have to face the following problems:

Services affected	What will be the impact?	alternative route
UPI Apps (Google Pay, PhonePe)	Due to missing verification message, you will not be able to log-in or make a new transaction.	Can use internet banking.
Bank OTP	OTPs required for online shopping, money transfer or net banking will stop coming.	If your bank Email If it gives the facility to send OTP, you can select it.
Account Alerts	Regular messages regarding money being deducted or received from the account will not be received during this period.	You can check the statement by visiting the official app of the bank.

What to do after the 24 hour period is over?

Once the 24-hour period has passed since the new SIM card was activated, your phone’s messaging services will be automatically restored. After this, you can open your UPI app and complete the SMS verification process again, after which all your digital payments will start working normally as before.

The thing to keep in mind is that if you have not just replaced the old SIM, but have purchased a brand new mobile number, then to run UPI, you will first have to go to your bank branch and register that new number with your account. Only after this you will be able to avail the services of digital payment.