I have read on another forum that as of 1st January a new law that requires a reference and an OTP from an Indian Citizen when buying Sim cards. The person reported that the Airtel stall at Delhi airport refused to sell them a Sim card without this reference?

Given I'm arriving at around midnight, I don't want to be stuck without a Sim card. Can anyone advise if this is correct and also is there any workaround I can do? I don't really want to buy an eSim from Airalo because they're so much more expensive.