PTA begins blocking WhatsApp accounts tied to inactive SIM cards

The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority has started blocking WhatsApp accounts that are linked to inactive SIM cards, a step the regulator says is meant to stop misuse of numbers no longer in service.

According to reports by TechJuice and ProPakistani, both citing PTA officials, the blocking follows an awareness campaign in which the authority asked mobile users to confirm that their WhatsApp accounts are registered against numbers they own and still use.

PTA has advised users whose previously linked SIMs have been deactivated, cancelled or are no longer in use to update their WhatsApp registration. It has also urged people to check the status of their SIMs and make sure the messaging account is attached to a number they actively use.

The authority's stated concern is the way operators recycle numbers. A deactivated SIM's number can be issued again to another subscriber; if a WhatsApp account is still tied to that number, the earlier owner can lose control of the account or face unauthorised access. Users who have changed mobile numbers have been told to use WhatsApp's Change Number feature to move their account to their current number, which PTA says reduces the risk of misuse.

Both outlets describe the blocking as a continuation of earlier PTA warnings about the security risk of WhatsApp accounts registered on inactive or cancelled SIMs. TechJuice reported that the authority had flagged the same vulnerability before, and ProPakistani framed the new step as an attempt to reduce that risk.

Neither report published the text of a notification, the date the blocking began, the test used to classify a SIM as inactive, or the number of accounts affected, and neither carried a detailed public statement from the authority. It is therefore unclear from the published accounts whether blocking is automatic across all inactive numbers, whether users get a warning before an account is suspended, and whether an account can be restored once a SIM is reactivated. The reports point users who still hold their old SIM to the Change Number route; they set out no procedure for those whose number has already been reassigned to someone else.

In Pakistan a WhatsApp account is tied to a phone number, which is why the regulator has treated dormant or reassigned SIMs as a route to account takeover. The two reports agree on the substance of the move and on PTA's advice to users; neither put a figure on its reach.