New rules for prepaid users

In two months, on the basis of the Law on Electronic Communications, from February 10, 2025, mandatory registration of prepaid numbers will come into force in Serbia.

This obligation applies to both new and existing users. New users will have to register before using the card, via the Internet or in branches of mobile operators. The same obligation, based on Article 158 of the Law on Electronic Communications and the Rulebook on technical conditions for the registration of end users of prepaid services, will also apply to existing prepaid subscribers.

WHY REGISTRATION IS MANDATORY

The new Law on Electronic Communications in Serbia entered into force at the beginning of May 2023 and is largely harmonized with the European Code on Electronic Communications. At the beginning of February this year, the Ministry of Information and Telecommunications published the Rulebook on technical conditions for the registration of end users of prepaid services.

"Registration has many advantages for users. For example, if the user loses the card, as a registered user he will be able to reactivate and save the same number very easily. In addition, registered users have the possibility of insight into the traffic specification, while we, on the other hand, have a better insight into their needs, on the basis of which we can create more personalized and attractive offers. It is especially important that a registered prepaid user will later be able to switch to postpaid easily, in just a few clicks, through the Yettel application," Dejan Marković, manager of the segment for individuals at the company Yettel, told "Vreme".

Registration via the Yettel online channel (application and website) is possible already from September, and the deadline for registration of existing users is February 10, 2025.

Users need to take a photo of their personal identification document, ID card or passport, and then their face through the Yettel application, which is in line with remote identification standards. After successful registration, they can also get some of the benefits prepared by this company.

Anyone who registers can access the digital scratch card, where one of the benefits is the possibility of buying a phone for a dinar without contractual obligations, additional internet, SMS messages or minutes for voice traffic.

WHAT AFTER 10. FEBRUARY

Everyone who remains unregistered after February 10 of the following year will have their prepaid number available for another 90 days, and after that period, unregistered numbers will be deactivated. During those 90 days, users will only be able to use the number to communicate with emergency numbers or the contact center of their mobile operator's company.

"The most common reason why users decide to choose a prepaid number is flexibility and the fact that there is no contractual obligation. On the other hand, in terms of costs, for many users postpaid is a better option. In addition to users who actively use prepaid numbers, there are often secondary numbers, that is, auxiliary numbers, which users keep and maintain for personal reasons. This type of payment also suits the younger population without permanent income, such as pupils or students", says Marković.

HOW IT IS IN THE REGION

With these changes, Serbia joins the majority of countries in the world where the registration of prepaid SIM cards is valid. It is in force in Hungary, Greece, Bulgaria, Montenegro since 2017, and in North Macedonia since 2013.

One of the last European countries to introduce mandatory registration, i.e. personalization of prepaid SIM cards, is Sweden.

According to the website of the international organization GSMA, which brings together more than 1.100 mobile operators and companies from the telecommunications ecosystem, more than 70 percent of the world's population uses mobile phones. More than 75 percent of mobile connections are made via prepaid models, and of that number, more than 90 percent of prepaid connections are made in countries where SIM registration is mandatory.