Saudi Arabia to link ID to SIM recharge

Mobile phone users in Saudi Arabia will no longer be able to add call credit to their mobile SIM cards unless they are holders of the national identity card, a newspaper in the Gulf Kingdom reported on Thursday.

Pre-paid SIM users in the country of 28 million must now enter the number of their national ID in order to add credit to their phones.

“The new rules will be enforced on Friday…after that date, mobile phone customers will not be able to recharge their SIM cards unless they enter their ID number,” Sabq Arabic language daily said.

It said the decision to link the SIM charge to the ID number had already been approved by the Kingdom’s competent authorities and that there is no intention to extend the deadline for its enforcement.