New Delhi [India], November 27 (ANI): The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has confirmed that the amendments to the Telecommunication Cyber Security (TCS) Rules, 2024, formally notified on October 22, 2025, are fully in force and enforceable. The ministry clarified that a subsequent inadvertent re-publication of the rules does not affect the validity of the original amendments.
The TCS Amendment Rules, 2025, introduced in October, establish frameworks to strengthen India’s cyber resilience and enhance security around telecom identifiers, which are increasingly used across banking, e-commerce, and governance platforms. The amendments aim to address vulnerabilities arising from the integration of mobile numbers, IMEIs, and other telecom identifiers into digital services, focusing on traceability, accountability, and security of digital transactions.
Key changes include the institutionalisation of a mobile number validation (MNV) platform to curb mule accounts and identity fraud, enabling service providers to verify whether a mobile number genuinely belongs to the individual registered with it. To combat the circulation of stolen, cloned, or blacklisted devices in the resale market, the rules mandate ‘Resale Device Scrubbing’, requiring entities dealing in second-hand or refurbished phones to check each device’s IMEI against a centralised blacklist before resale.
The amendment also defines Telecom Identifier User Entities (TIUEs)—entities across sectors that rely on telecom identifiers—and places regulated obligations on them to share telecom-identifier data with the government under specific circumstances. This measure is expected to improve coordination in tackling cyber fraud while ensuring compliance with data protection norms.
The DoT stated that these steps collectively aim to safeguard India’s digital ecosystem from telecom-enabled fraud, strengthen device traceability, and ensure responsible use of telecom identifiers. The ministry also clarified that while the rules were inadvertently republished on October 29, 2025, the issue has been rectified through a fresh notification dated November 25, 2025, without affecting the enforceability of the original amendments. (ANI)
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