Rule
A communications provider must obtain a copy of a consumer's passport before activating a postpaid or prepaid SIM subscription, where the consumer is not a TRNC or Turkish citizen (a copy of the ID card or passport is required for TRNC/Turkish citizens). A provider may not activate a subscription without first taking this document copy, and false information at registration is prohibited. Device (IMEI) registration, via the Mobile Device Registration System (MCKS), is a separate legal regime: devices brought from abroad have a grace period of 90 days per calendar year before mandatory in-person registration at BTHK.[1]
Exceptions
- The MCKS device-registration fee (580.60 TL, quoted from BTHK's own page) is volatile/date-specific and not independently re-verified against a current fee schedule.
- Real-world point-of-sale practice (whether a tourist can buy a prepaid SIM same-day on passport alone) was only corroborated via secondary material, kept distinct from this legal finding.