Russia plans to ban the sale of prepaid SIM cards

Brief retelling from RIA II

Russia plans to introduce a ban on the sale of prepaid SIM cards as part of measures against cyber fraudsters.

SIM cards will be sold with a zero balance, and the subscriber will have to deposit funds into a personal account for identification.

MOSCOW, September 30 - RIA Novosti. A ban on the sale of prepaid SIM cards is planned to be introduced in Russia as part of the third package of measures against cyber fraudsters, the Ministry of Digital Development of the Russian Federation reported.

“Telecom operators will be able to sell SIM cards only with a zero balance. The subscriber will have to deposit funds into a personal account and thus be identified when making a payment,” the department said in a statement.

It is noted that this measure is aimed at combating fraud through prepaid SIM cards and will become an additional tool for identifying the real user of communication services.

Earlier on Wednesday, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Grigorenko told RIA Novosti that the third package of measures against cyber fraudsters is in the final stage of development, it will include almost 20 initiatives, and the emphasis will be on combating SIM card schemes. It will be submitted to the State Duma in the autumn session.

The Russian government is actively working to protect citizens by introducing measures to counter telephone and online scammers. Thus, the first package of measures to protect against fraudsters came into force in June 2025. It includes about 30 initiatives, which are being introduced in stages. Russians also got the opportunity to refuse SMS mailings and spam calls.