Prepaid SIM cards to only be activated under identity document

Prepaid SIM cards will be able to be activated only after the user is identified on the basis of an identity document. The measure is set out in a draft law examined today by the Parliamentary Committee for Economy, Budget and Finance, which will be submitted for approval in the Parliament’s plenary session.

The main purpose of the new regulations is to prevent fraud and other offenses committed through anonymous numbers. Thus, the draft, developed by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, establishes the obligation for mobile electronic communications service providers to identify users, including in the case of prepaid SIM cards. Citizens of the Republic of Moldova will provide data from their identity document – surname, first name and personal identification number (IDNP) – which will be verified via the Information System “State Population Register”. In the case of foreign citizens, it will be necessary to present an identity document issued by the state of origin, and the provider will keep a copy of the document, in compliance with personal data protection legislation.

User identification may be carried out by several methods: at sales points, online, by mobile signature, or through other digital means of identification. Until the process is completed, the SIM card may only be used for essential services, such as calls to the 112 emergency service and access to the identification portal.

The data collected during the identification process will be stored for the entire duration of the service and for an additional 12 months after its termination, in order to facilitate user identification in the event of possible investigations.

After adoption, the new provisions will enter into force 12 months after publication in the Official Journal. The transition period will allow operators to adapt their internal systems, develop digital solutions for remote identification and allocate the resources needed to implement the new requirements.

According to statistics, almost 1.6 million prepaid SIM cards are active in the Republic of Moldova, representing 42.7% of all mobile connections. Authorities state that the anonymity offered by these cards is frequently exploited in fraud, scams and fake 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.

Over the past five years, financial scams and phishing campaigns, including the scheme known as the “relative involved in an accident,” have caused estimated damages of up to 100 million lei. According to the authorities, such frauds are often facilitated by fake accounts created on platforms such as Viber, WhatsApp and Telegram, using anonymous phone numbers.

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