What restrictions on the use of corporate SIM cards will be in effect from 2025

Federal Law No. 303-FZ of August 8, 2024, amended certain legislative acts of the Russian Federation aimed at regulating issues in the field of providing cellular communication services.

In particular, it was established that from January 1, 2025, legal entities and individual entrepreneurs concluding a contract for cellular services may provide the corresponding SIM cards for use only to individuals working on the basis of an employment contract or a paid civil law contract concluded with these legal entities or individual entrepreneurs, and subject to the entry of the necessary information into the unified identification and authentication system (GIS ESIA).

If the employee is a foreigner, then he must undergo biometric identification. When registering a corporate SIM card, the employer will need to indicate, among other things, the presence of biometric personal data of such an employee posted in the unified biometric system.

It should also be taken into account that from April 1, 2025, operators will be able to allocate, and legal entities and individual entrepreneurs will be able to provide for use to one Russian citizen with no more than 20 subscriber numbers. The limit on the number of SIM cards for foreigners is set earlier — from January 1, 2025: no more than 10 subscriber numbers (with the exception of diplomats, consuls, etc.).