New Delhi: The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) on Thursday clarified that the Telecommunication Cyber Security (TCS) Amendment Rules, 2025, notified on October 22, remain valid and enforceable, despite an inadvertent republication that caused confusion last month.
The original amendment was issued via notification G.S.R. 771(E) dated 22 October 2025. However, instead of publishing a separate draft rule for consultation, the same amendment was mistakenly republished in the Gazette of India through G.S.R. 796(E) dated 29 October 2025. To correct the error, the DoT issued G.S.R. 863(E) on 25 November 2025, formally rescinding the unintended republication. The ministry stressed that this rectification in no way nullifies or suspends the amended rules and that the TCS Amendment Rules, 2025 continue to be in force as originally notified.
The amendment marks one of the most significant cybersecurity interventions in the telecom sector, aimed at plugging vulnerabilities that have emerged as telecom identifiers increasingly anchor digital services across banking, e-commerce and governance. A central reform is the introduction of the mobile number validation (MNV) platform, which allows service providers to confirm whether a mobile number genuinely belongs to the user whose credentials are on record, a move expected to curtail mule accounts and identity fraud in financial and digital transactions.
The amended rules also mandate resale device scrubbing, requiring refurbishers and second-hand device sellers to run every device’s IMEI against a central blacklist before resale to curb circulation of stolen and cloned phones and to protect unsuspecting buyers. In addition, the amendment introduces obligations for telecom identifier user entities (TIUEs) — organisations that rely on identifiers such as phone numbers, IMEIs and IP addresses — compelling them to share specific telecom-linked data with the government under regulated circumstances. This is intended to enhance traceability and coordination in cyber-crime investigations while maintaining adherence to privacy and data-protection standards.
Policy planners view the reforms as critical to safeguarding the digital economy against telecom-enabled fraud, improving device traceability and ensuring responsible use of telecom identifiers across sectors. The correction of the Gazette slip-up is expected to remove ambiguity for compliance-heavy entities such as fintech firms, digital platforms and refurbished device dealers. The government maintains that the cybersecurity reforms represent a decisive step toward a resilient and future-ready telecom ecosystem that balances innovation with transparency and national security.