Mobile Number Portability

Q 1. What is Mobile Number Portability?

A. Mobile Number Portability is a facility that allows a telecom service user to move from one operator to another operator irrespective of geographical area (e.g. Delhi to Mumbai). If a subscriber is not satisfied with the services of his current operator, he can port his mobile number to another service provider of his choice.

Q 2. What is the eligibility criterion for receiving a Unique Porting Request (UPC)?

A valid Unique Porting Code (UPC), which is an 8-digit code (like an OTP for identification and verification), is essential for initiating a porting request. Satisfying all the following eligibility criteria will ensure receiving a UPC through SMS on the mobile number–
(a) In the case of Post-Paid mobile connection, the subscriber has cleared ‘Outstanding dues’ towards the existing telecom service provider for the issued bill(s) as per normal billing cycle.
(b) Activation in the present operator’s network is not less than 90 days.
(c) Request for change of ownership of mobile number is not in process.
(d) There are no pending contractual obligation(s) to be fulfilled by the subscriber as per the exit clause provided in the subscriber agreement.
(e) The porting of the mobile number is not prohibited by the court of law.
(f) The mobile number sought to be ported is not sub-judice.
(g) A period of seven days has elapsed from the date of SIM swap/ replacement.
In case the validations of any one or more conditions (a) to (g) are negative, the request for UPC will be rejected and the reason for rejection will be provided through SMS to the subscriber.

Q 3. What is the procedure for Mobile Number Portability?

(a) Generate UPC at the point of sale of the Recipient Operator, i.e. the new operator, where you want to port your number to. Send an SMS from the mobile number which is to be ported, the word ‘PORT’ (which shall be case-insensitive, i.e., it can be ‘port’ or ‘Port’ etc.) followed by a space and the ten-digit mobile number which is to be ported, to 1900. The UPC will be received through SMS from 1901 on the same mobile number.
(b) Fill the Customer Acquisition Form (CAF) and Porting Form of the Recipient Operator of your choice and mention the valid UPC. After submission of necessary payment and requisite KYC documents, collect new SIM from the operator at customer service centre/Point of Sale. You will receive a message from MNP service provider confirming the submission of your porting request along with the available withdrawal window of 24 Hours.
(c) Porting within a Licensed Service Area (LSA) (e.g. porting within Gujarat LSA) takes 3 working days. The porting from one LSA to another LSA (e.g. Delhi to Mumbai) takes 5 working days. Also, in case of porting of Corporate number, Porting time is 5 working days. [there are 22 geographical regions in the country designated as LSA] Porting time in Jammu & Kashmir, Assam, and North East licensed service areas, shall be up to 15 working days.

You will receive an SMS indicating the date and time for porting which is during night hours and there is no service for a maximum period of 4 hours.

(d) Insert the new SIM in your phone. Post verification, your mobile number is active on the network of your new service provider.

Q 4. What are the grounds of Rejection of Porting Request?

For individual subscribers’ mobile numbers - the porting request submitted by the subscriber to the Recipient Operator, with valid UPC within the validity period of UPC, will not be rejected.
For Corporate mobile numbers – the porting request may be rejected by his existing operator, if the porting request is not accompanied by a valid authorization letter issued by the corporate entity.

Q 5. How can a customer withdraw his porting request?

A subscriber may withdraw the porting request within 24 hours of submitting porting request by sending SMS to 1900. To cancel the port request, SMS the word, ‘CANCEL’ (which shall be case-insensitive, i.e. it can be ‘cancel’ or ‘Cancel’ etc.), followed by a space and the ten-digit mobile number, whose porting request is sought to be cancelled. With this, the port request and the existing UPC shall be cancelled. Also, after withdrawal, customer shall not be entitled to any refund of the porting charges paid, if any.

Q 6. What is the validity period of UPC?

UPC will be valid for 4 (four) days for all areas except of Jammu & Kashmir, Assam and North East, where it will remain valid for 30 days. [ For Counting validity of UPC, the day on which UPC is generated is excluded.]

Q 7. What is the limit for corporate numbers porting attached to a single Authorization letter?

Request for up to 100 Corporate mobile numbers can be made through a single Authorization letter.

Q 8. What are the charges to be paid for porting a mobile number?

The upper limit for the Per Port Transaction Charge is Rupees six and forty-six paisa only for each porting request, if asked by the Recipient operator to whom you wish to port your number.

Q 9. Whether the subscriber will be informed about the porting process?

Yes, the subscriber will be informed through SMS at every stage of porting i.e. submission of porting request, port withdrawal (if any), porting schedule, deactivation time by Donor operator and activation of SIM by new operator/RO.

Q 10. How can a telecom Subscriber get information about status of his MNP request?

The subscriber will be informed through SMS at every stage of porting.

Q 11. What are Licensed Service Areas (LSAs) and MNP Zones?

The country has been divided into 22 geographical regions designated as LSAs. For the purpose of MNP, there are 2 MNP Zones with 11 LSAs each. They are as under:

Zone-1 Service Area	Zone-2 Service Area
Jammu & Kashmir	Karnataka
Haryana	Kerala
Punjab	Andhra Pradesh
Himachal Pradesh	Tamil Nadu
Rajasthan	Assam
Uttar Pradesh(East)	Bihar
Uttar Pradesh(West)	Odisha
Gujarat	West Bengal
Delhi	North East
Maharashtra	Madhya Pradesh
Mumbai	Kolkata