The Bhutanese Leading the way.
Earlier in June 2024 in response to a question by this paper, the Minister for Foreign Affairs and External Trade, D.N Dhungyel, announced that in February 2024, the Government of India had issued a circular regarding the amendment in their Know Your Customer (KYC) instructions for the issuance of SIM cards to Bhutanese Citizens.
According to the amendment, the Department of Telecommunications of India has changed its policy to permit citizens of Bhutan to use SIM card services in India, by presenting one of the following documents as valid identification instead of a passport: Bhutanese Citizenship Certificates (Citizenship Identity Cards), Voter Identification Cards issued by the Election Commission of Bhutan, and Limited Validity Photo-Identity Certificates issued by the Royal Bhutanese Embassy in India.
Many Bhutanese assumed that this meant Bhutanese could now get the SIM cards in India, however, despite the policy change, it was not been implemented on the ground even till September 2024.
When the paper asked the Foreign Minister, in September he said that he has asked the Royal Bhutanese Embassy to follow up on the matter with the Ministry of External Affairs.
With almost two months gone since September and five months since June 2024 the paper followed up with the minister again.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs and External Trade, D. N Dhungyel, shared that the ministry has received confirmation that Indian SIM cards will be made available following an upcoming system upgrade for all telecom service providers in India, finally resolving this long-standing issue.
However, again, there is no definite timeline.
Earlier Bhutanese citizens could get a SIM card against their passport but new rules came in saying a visa stamp is required.
Now Indian telecom service providers require valid visa documents for foreigners applying for SIM cards.
Since both Bhutanese and Nepalese nationals do not require visas to travel to India, they were unable to obtain SIM cards.
