The telecom department has asked carriers that are offering machine to machine (M2M) services to follow KYC norms before issuing SIMs for the service which will have restricted features such as calls and data will be limited to one and two numbers, respectively. In a notice issued on Wednesday, DoT said that in cases where the SIM is embedded inside the device or machine at the time of manufacturing and it is difficult to know who the end user will be, carriers will have to follow the know-your-customer or KYC norms used for issuing SIMs in bulk, while giving the SIMs to the M2M service provider, subject to certain conditions. "Outgoing or incoming calls will be allowed to one number only. Text messages and data communication will from two numbers," the department said. 

It added that the entity providing the M2M service will be responsible for informing the carriers the names and addresses of the physical buyer or holder of the M2M device, through an online interface. Existing connections given out will have to be made compliant within six months. DoT has also allowed the use of embedded SIMs or eSIMs, used in wearable devices such as Apple Watch, which will have to be open to lawful interception and monitoring on its network and be allowed for portability to other carriers.