Vietnam’s Decree No.174/2026/NĐ‑CP on administrative penalties takes effect on 1 July 2026. It covers postal services, telecommunications, radio, e-commerce, information technology and other sectors. It imposes heavy fines for telecom violations such as junk SIM cards and fraudulently registered SIM cards, providing a penalty basis for law enforcement on A2P SMS and the communications industry.
The decree differentiates penalty benchmarks for individuals and organisations. Within telecommunications, information technology and civilian cryptography sectors, the maximum fine for individuals can reach 100 million VND, while fines for organisations are double the individual rate. The new rules focus heavily on crackdowns involving "junk SIM cards". Activities including buying, selling, leasing and transferring pre-activated SIM cards carry fines ranging from 30 million to 40 million VND.
Violations of registering SIM cards using software or applications to forge personal information incur fines between 80 million and 100 million VND. Together with VNTA’s implementation of SIM real-name verification and anti-spam A2P SMS regulations, this decree curbs identity theft for SIM enrolment and circulation of non-compliant SIM cards through penalty measures, reducing the source of scam SMS and nuisance voice calls.
For service providers and operators offering A2P SMS and enterprise voice services, this decree marks a critical compliance red line. Enterprises will face heavy fines if involved in illegal SIM circulation or identity forgery for communication account registration. Relevant parties must strengthen SIM card management to avoid administrative penalty risks stemming from non-compliant numbers.
