Indonesia will enforce mandatory SIM card registration for new mobile phone numbers starting on July 1, 2026. Facial biometric data will be collected during the registration process to verify the authenticity of those new numbers.
Komdigi, the Ministry of Communications and Digital Affairs, said facial biometrics are a more effective authentication method than using National ID and Family Card numbers for SIM registration. The implementation is based on a five-month trial and a positive public response.
Komdigi moves from National ID and Family Card checks to facial biometrics
Komdigi said the new SIM registration flow will use facial biometrics as the authentication mechanism. Under the prior approach described by Komdigi, registration relied on National ID and Family Card data.
In Komdigis framing, facial biometrics improve authentication for issuing new mobile phone numbers, and the ministry is pushing a nationwide roll-out rather than leaving additional flexibility beyond the transition date.
Edwin Hidayat Abdullah: no further leeway from July 1, 2026
Komdigi director general of digital ecosystem Edwin Hidayat Abdullah said nationwide implementation of biometric-based SIM card registration for new users can proceed in full. He also said there will be no further leeway starting July 1, 2026.
Abdullahs comments point to a policy shift that is meant to be final for new registrations after the cutover date.
Five-month trial outcomes across Telkomsel, Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison and XL Axiata
Komdigis decision to move forward followed a successful five-month trial and a positive public response, as described by Edwin Hidayat Abdullah. Komdigis evaluation of the nearly five-month trial showed that the verification systems operated by Telkomsel, Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison, and XL Axiata had proven reliable.
The ministry also said the facial-biometrics registration process takes less than two minutes, framing it as faster than the current process that requires National ID and Family Card data.
Registration speed and operator verification capacity become part of compliance
Komdigi said the facial-biometrics method is faster than the prior identity-data approach, and that the overall registration process takes less than two minutes. That combinationshorter user interaction time plus reliability of operator verification systemswill be embedded into new SIM registration compliance starting July 1, 2026.
Operators that support new SIM onboarding will need to integrate their customer-facing registration procedures with the facial-biometrics verification model Komdigi is mandating.