Nepali Citizens can Now get an Indian SIM Card

Nepalese citizens can now get an Indian SIM card during their visit to India. Previously, getting a SIM card in India posed a challenge for Nepalese citizens.

On a notice released Monday by the Ministry of Communications of India, Nepalese citizens who travel to India from their country of origin, only require a proof of their citizenship or any of the following eligible document to get their SIM card.

This statement was further validated by Dr. Shankar Prasad Sharma, the current ambassador of Nepal to India, on his recent X post (formerly, Twitter).

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Document(s) Required to get Indian SIM Card:

• Government-issued citizenship certificate; or
• Voter ID issued by Election Commission of Nepal; or
• Limited validity photo-ID certificate issued by the embassy.

Nepalese citizens who are travelling to India from other countries, however, must present a valid passport with a Visa stamp to get an Indian SIM card.

The decision was made in regards to the recent amendments made to the existing KYC (Know Your Customer) policies of India for issuing SIM cards to Nepalese citizens.

However, there are several restrictions specified by the Ministry of Communications of India. The SIM cards will have a validity of only three months even if the allowed stay duration of the citizen exceeds three months.

To add to the above statement, the Ministry has further specified that the SIM cards will not have any roaming capabilities whatsoever. This is likely to discourage citizens from taking their issued SIM cards and using them in countries besides India.