Only 16 percent of all mobile numbers in the country have complied with the Subscriber Identity Module or SIM Card Registration Act, as of January 28, according to the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC).

Three months before the deadline for registration, the NTC said they recorded only 26.64 million of the 168.98 million SIM cards nationwide.

If the progress remains, only 60 percent of subscribers will be registered by the deadline, April 26.

Meanwhile, based on the Republic Act (RA) 11934, the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) may extend SIM card registration until 120 days after the deadline.

However, both NTC and DICT encouraged telecommunication companies to enlist subscribers within the deadline.

Under the RA, if the user fails to register, this will lead to an automatic deactivation of the SIM. Deactivated SIM may be reactivated not later than five days after such deactivation.

For guidelines and other information on SIM card registration, read here.