Moldovan parliament establishes mechanism for identifying prepaid mobile service users: SIM cards to be able to be activated only based on identity document

The parliament today introduced new rules on the purchase and activation of prepaid SIM cards. They will be able to be activated only after the user is identified on the basis of an identity document. The MPs adopted the in the first reading, with 67 votes for.

The initiative was developed by the Interior Ministry (MAI). MAI Secretary General Valentin Cioclea has said that the draft aimed to establish a mechanism for identifying users of prepaid mobile services, including SIM and eSIM cards, no later than at the time the service is activated.

According to the official, the purpose of the draft is not to restrict citizens' access to electronic communications services, but to eliminate the existing vulnerability created by the possibility of anonymously using a phone number, which leads to an increase in the number of phone scams.

"There are situations in which a phone number can be purchased and used without being able to determine the persons behind it. This vulnerability is used in particular for telephone fraud, online scams, false alerts and other illegal activities," said Valentin Cioclea. He noted that, in recent years, the damages caused by telephone and online fraud had increased from 40 million lei in 2023 to approximately 157 million lei in the first five months of 2026.

The draft does not ban prepaid cards and does not restrict their sale. Citizens will still be able to purchase such services, the difference being that activation will take place after the user is identified.

"The initiative does not introduce communications surveillance, does not allow access to the content of calls and does not allow access to messages, and does not concern traffic or location data," the MAI Secretary General added.

The draft stipulates that the new rules will enter into force 12 months after publication in the Official Journal. According to the authors of the initiative, the transitional period will allow operators to adapt their internal systems, develop remote digital identification solutions and allocate the resources needed to implement the new requirements. During the debate on the draft, more lawmakers requested that the implementation period of the new provisions be shortened.

According to statistics data, almost 1.6 million prepaid SIM cards are active in Moldova, accounting for 42.7 per cent of all mobile connections. The authorities claim that the anonymity provided by these cards is frequently exploited in fraud, scams and false calls. In 2025 alone, 1,190 false bomb threats and abusive calls to emergency services were recorded, and due to difficulties in identifying the perpetrators, only one in 29 cases reached the courts.

Prepaid SIM cards are also used in smuggling activities at the border, including for the remote control of drones via mobile networks. In such cases, identifying the operators is often difficult. Over the past five years, 129 such incidents have been documented.