Mobile Number Portability

Mobile Number Portability is a facility which allows a subscriber to retain his mobile telephone number when he moves from one Access Provider to another irrespective of the mobile technology or from one cellular mobile technology to another of the same Access Provider.
If a subscriber is not satisfied with the services of his current operator due to any reason, he can port his mobile number to another service provider of his choice.

A valid Unique Porting Code (UPC), which is an 8-digit code and 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) Activation in the present operator’s network is more than 90 days.
(b) In the case of a 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.
(c) Request for change of ownership of mobile number is not in process.
(d) The mobile number sought to be ported is not sub-judice.
(e) The porting of the mobile number is not prohibited by the court of law.
(f) For a Corporate mobile number, the porting request - ( i ) is to be accompanied by an authorisation letter from authorised signatory. (ii) does not seek simultaneous porting of more than 100 mobile numbers, all belonging to the same donor operator
(g) There are no pending contractual obligation(s) to be fulfilled by the subscriber as per the exit clause provided in the subscriber agreement.
(h) 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 (h) are negative, the request for UPC will be rejected and the reason for rejection will be provided through SMS to the subscriber.

(a) Generate UPC at the point of sale of the Recipient Operator, i.e. the new operator, where the subscriber wants to port his/ her mobile number to. For this, an SMS is to be sent 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 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. An SMS will be received from the MNP service provider confirming submission of the 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 licensed service areas (LSAs)]. Porting time in Jammu & Kashmir, Assam, and North East LSAs, shall be up to 15 working days. The subscriber will receive an SMS, indicating the date and time for porting, which takes place during night hours and there shall be no service period for a maximum period of 4 hours. 
(d) Insert the new SIM in the phone. Post verification, the mobile number will be active on the network of new service provider.

For individual subscribers’ mobile numbers - the porting request submitted by the subscriber to the Recipient Operator, with a 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 RG-18/(6)/2024-NSL-II I/31909/2025 letter, signed and issued by the Authorised signatory of the corporate entity.

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.

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

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

The porting charge is Rupees six and forty-six paisa only for each porting request, if asked by the Recipient operator.

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/Recipient Operator

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:

Upon porting of a pre-paid mobile number, the unspent balance amount, if any, at the time of porting shall lapse.

Upon porting of a postpaid mobile number, the Donor Operator shall refund to the subscriber, all amounts due to such subscriber on account of refundable payments or deposits made by such subscriber to the Donor Operator.