Originally Posted by
Bandicoot
Nothing has changed in the regulations regarding SIM issuance to tourists or other visitors. You can get a SIM valid for the shorter of 3 months or the duration of your visa. A small operator is unlikely to know the rules about this and may summarily refuse to sell you a SIM if you don't have an Aadhaar card that residents have. Best to go to a bigger store or showroom of the mobile phone company, or if you can spare the time, go to one of the vendors right at the airport who know how to deal with foreigners. Have copies ready of your passport, including the visa page, proof of your non-Indian address (in case the passport doesn't have this), anything showing a local address such as a hotel reservation, and a small photograph of yourself. Anecdotally, it seems that activation of the SIM can take anywhere from a few hours to a couple of days. If you're traveling far from Mumbai right after arriving in India, it may be a problem if your SIM is not activated before you are outside the "circle" or local mobile calling region.
Thank you for this info. Will definitely print out copies of all you listed to have on hand. We are staying with my Dil's aunt, or her uncle, and we can try to use one of their addresses. We have a wedding the next day, which makes getting the phone at the airport ideal.
Also have a phone number and name of a local reference, like your hotel manager. They sometimes want to call to verify you.
Good info to know, though how readily do they call someone at 3am? See above re: staying with aunt or uncle. One of them doesn't speak Hindi, so that could be fun.
