The validity of a Nepal Telecom (NT) SIM card gets extended according to the Top-up amount to the mobile number. If you do not recharge your Nepal Telecom Prepaid or Postpaid SIM for a long time, the SIM card may become frozen or even terminate.
As the telco recycles the SIM once it is terminated, so, you need to understand the life cycle of a Nepal Telecom SIM card to keep it running and available for you (active state). Moreover, you can recharge our phone balance accordingly to extend the validity date. As Nepali Citizens living abroad are also worried about the SIM card that they carried with them, they can even recharge your mobile number from there.
The validity and the timeline for termination vary in the GSM prepaid SIM card and postpaid SIM card.
Prepaid SIM card Life
After acquiring NT’s new prepaid SIM card, you need to dial 1415 or *1414# to activate the SIM. A new SIM already has a balance in it that is usable for 180 days. So after activating the SIM card, you can use the SIM card till that duration without any Top-up.
Below is the top-up and SIM validity addition information for prepaid SIM card:
| Top-Up amount in Ntc prepaid | Validity duration addition |
| Rs 50 | 30 days |
| Rs 100 | 60 days |
| Rs 500 | 1 year |
| Rs 1000 | 2 years |
In case there is no minimum amount (1 paisa) or the SIM validity period has expired, the prepaid SIM card is barred immediately one-sided. That means you can answer incoming calls, but you cannot make outgoing calls.
You need to top-up the SIM card within 30 days of one-way service, otherwise, it will be barred two ways. That is both the Incoming and Outgoing stops from your mobile.
Top-up the SIM card within 30 days of a two-way service shut down or else the SIM reaches the Frozen state. In Frozen state, you won’t be able to use the accumulated amount, and the SIM usage period expires. That means, all the balance in your mobile becomes zero.
Though there could be some balance left in the SIM card, the mobile number may go to a two-way bar stage, due to the validity date.
If the SIM card with two-way service disrupted is top-up within 30 days, then the top-up amount adds to the existing amount. After the frozen state, the company can recycle the SIM and issue it to a new customer. Nepal Telecom has recently recycled 15 lakhs SIM cards which are unused for a long time.
| Balance and Duration | Nepal Telecom Prepaid SIM state |
| After Validity period or having balance less than 1 paisa | SIM becomes one-way bar (No outgoing, only incoming) |
| After 30 days of One-way bar | SIM becomes two-way bar (No outgoing and incoming) |
| After 30 days of two-way bar | SIM becomes Frozen and the remaining balance becomes zero |
Postpaid SIM card Life
In postpaid SIM card, if the user has more due amount left than the credit limit, then the SIM becomes one-way (Only Incoming, No Outgoing). The incoming service can last for 90 days, and from next month, the bill will not add up.
If the due amount is not settled within 90 days, then the two-way service is halted, and the SIM becomes frozen.
In order to resume the service in the frozen SIM, you have to pay the remaining tariff within 90 days and inform the nearest telecommunication office via telephone or Email. You need to make the required payment within 90 days, or else the SIM gets permanently terminated.
If the user’s SIM reaches Terminate state, then to acquire the same SIM and use it, the user should pay Rs. 560 as Reconnection Fee within 180 days. If the user does not pay the fee within 180 days of Terminate state, then the company can recycle the SIM and sell it to a new customer.
Read Nepal Telecom postpaid SIM card now costs Rs 500.
| Due and Duration | Nepal Telecom Postpaid SIM state |
| If SIM has more due than credit limit | One way bar |
| After 90 days of One-way bar | Two-way bar and becomes frozen |
| After 90 days of Frozen | SIM terminates |
| After 180 days of termination | Permanent SIM termination and reuse to new customer |
Read the differences between Prepaid and Postpaid SIM card in Nepal.
Top-up mobile from abroad
As Nepalese people going abroad carry the SIM card along with them, they worry about the state of their SIM card. To save your SIM card and mobile number, you can top-up the Prepaid/Postpaid SIM in a foreign land with the help of online banking or digital wallets. By extending the SIM usage period, you can keep the SIM card in an active state and use it when you return to Nepal.
Apart from the online banking, Debit/credit card recharge, and Digital wallets, you can also use the Hamro recharge launched by Hamro Patro to top-up such SIM cards. OR you can use the digital methods to recharge your Nepal Telecom mobile number, with or without assistance from your friends/family. Find the digital top-up methods in Nepal Telecom.
To conclude, you need to know the validity of your Nepal Telecom prepaid or postpaid SIM card to keep it alive. You can also top-up your mobile number from abroad via online banking. With which, you need not worry about the SIM card going to terminate/frozen state.
The SIM card usage expiry date varies with the amount used to top-up. So, you have to be aware of the expiry date and top-up the SIM on time. The inability to recharge timely pushes the SIM to frozen or terminated state.
Tell us what do you think of the Nepal Telecom SIM card duration to terminate or become frozen??
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