A draft bill proposing a comprehensive overhaul of mobile phone subscriptions in Türkiye has been submitted to parliament. The bill requires foreign nationals to register with dedicated numbers, mandates electronic identity checks for all users and caps the number of subscription registrations an individual can hold.
Once the bill is approved, foreign citizens and migrants will have six month to apply for new mobile numbers reserved especially for them.
Operators will also need to verify the identities of subscribers using biometric data, such as facial or fingerprint scans, or a verified digital identity code.
Companies will no longer be allowed to open new lines using identification documents that lack electronic verification capabilities.
If a foreign national seeking a subscription lacks an electronically verifiable identity document, operators will be permitted to request biometric identity information from the migration management authority.
Diplomatic personnel and their families will be exempt from this requirement.
Foreign subscribers will have six months to update their existing lines to comply with the new system.
Once the bill is approved, mobile operators will be obligated to confirm every three months whether subscribers are still alive or, in the case of companies, whether their legal status remains valid.
If this cannot be confirmed through official records, the operator must automatically cancel the subscription.
The draft also introduces a cap on how many mobile lines can be registered under one individual. Operators would be barred from providing service to lines that exceed this threshold.
Operators that violate the regulations could face administrative fines of 20,000 Turkish Liras ($471) per line.
Officials say the reform aims to curb the use of mobile lines in criminal activities, noting that fraud, theft and credit card crimes often involve lines registered under multiple identities or unverified users.
