Following the Communications and Information Ministry’s regulation on mobile phone numbers, prepaid SIM card users were required to register their numbers by Feb. 28.

On March 1, the ministry recorded that 313 million mobile phone users had registered their prepaid SIM cards.

Noor Iza, the ministry’s acting head of public relations, told tempo.co on Thursday that previously the ministry had recorded a total of 305 million SIM cards being registered on the last day of the program.

Read also: What you need to know about SIM card registration

However, as the latest data stated that there were a total of 376 million prepaid SIM cards users in Indonesia, this indicates that up to 63 million mobile phone users have yet to register their numbers.

The regulation first went into effect on Oct. 31, 2017, aiming to protect SIM card holders from crimes committed using mobile phones and to prevent their phone numbers from being misused.

Following the regulation, unregistered SIM cards will gradually be blocked, preventing them from receiving calls or text messages. (jes/kes)