Buying a Nepali SIM card as an Indian national

Nepali operators register foreign nationals against a passport or, for Indian citizens specifically, an Election Commission of India Voter ID (EPIC). Those are the two documents you can rely on.

Aadhaar is repeatedly reported as not accepted for issuing a SIM in Nepal, and a PAN card is not a photo identity document for this purpose. A driving licence is inconsistent — some counters accept it, many do not — so do not make it your only plan.

Nepal is one of the most expensive roaming destinations for Indian SIMs relative to how cheap local data is. Indian international roaming packs for Nepal typically cost more for a few days than a full month of unlimited local data.

Nepal is also not part of any Indian 'national roaming' arrangement despite the open border and the shared language — it is a separate country with separate operators, and crossing the border switches you to full international roaming rates.

The practical advice: switch off mobile data roaming before you cross, keep your Indian SIM active for incoming SMS and OTPs from Indian banks, and put a cheap Nepali SIM in the second slot for data and local calls.

This is the specific problem for Indian visitors and it is worth planning for. Indian bank and UPI OTPs come by SMS to your Indian number, and receiving SMS while roaming requires your Indian SIM to stay registered on a Nepali network — which means roaming voice/SMS enabled, even with data roaming off.

Check with your Indian operator before you travel that international roaming is activated on the number, and that incoming SMS will work in Nepal. Incoming SMS is normally free or very cheap even when data roaming is disabled.

If your phone has only one SIM slot, an eSIM is the clean solution: keep the physical Indian SIM in for OTPs and add a data plan as an eSIM, or vice versa.

If you fly into Kathmandu, buy at the airport. NTC and Ncell counters sit in the arrivals hall after immigration, they open for most international arrivals, and the staff process foreign registrations constantly.

If you cross by land — Sunauli/Belahiya, Raxaul/Birgunj, Kakarbhitta, Nepalgunj, Banbasa/Mahendranagar — there is no dedicated tourist counter. Walk to the nearest bazaar on the Nepali side and use an operator centre or a mobile shop with an operator signboard. Border-town shops handle Indian customers routinely.

Land crossings are also where the Aadhaar problem bites hardest, because travellers who crossed on Aadhaar alone then discover they have no accepted SIM document. Carry the Voter ID.

Ncell's TouristPro plans are sold only to non-Nepali citizens and bundle unlimited data and calls under a fair-usage policy: Rs 595 for 7 days, Rs 995 for 14 days and Rs 1,995 for 28 days, with data throttling after 10 GB on the 7-day plan and 25 GB on the 14-day plan.

For a short trip that is excellent value and simple. For a longer or repeated stay, a normal prepaid SIM plus data packs works out cheaper and does not expire in a fixed window — and it stays yours between visits as long as you keep it active.

Indian nationals working, studying or living in Nepal should take the normal prepaid route, registered properly in their own name, because a tourist plan is not designed for continuity.

Hand over the original document and the photocopy, sign the KYC form, and let them photograph or copy the ID. Registration typically completes in ten to fifteen minutes at an airport counter, sometimes longer at a busy border-town shop.

Before you walk away, confirm the SIM works and is registered to you: dial *922# on NTC or *9966# on Ncell to see the registered name, and *9# (NTC) or *903# (Ncell) to display your own number.

If your trip is Kathmandu, Pokhara, Chitwan, Lumbini or a terai city — most Indian itineraries, including the Pashupatinath and Muktinath pilgrimages as far as Jomsom — Ncell is fine and generally faster.

If you are going to Muktinath overland, into the Annapurna or Everest areas, or to any hill district, take NTC. It reaches further, and near the northern border it is often the only network with a signal.

One honest caveat drawn from consistent traveller reports rather than an operator statement: in the far-western terai and along parts of the border, phones sometimes latch onto Indian networks and start roaming without you noticing. Lock the network to your Nepali operator manually if you see roaming appear.

Prepaid Nepali SIMs stay active as long as they are used or recharged within the operator's validity window; leave one dormant for months and it is eventually deactivated and the number recycled.

For Indian nationals who visit Nepal regularly — for work, family or pilgrimage — a small recharge every few months keeps the same number alive between trips, which is much less hassle than re-registering each visit. Check the current dormancy period with your operator, as it has changed over time.