PAYG Roaming stopped working in India - No Service/OTPs

[franklinfeliex]

Hi,

I am an EE Pay As You Go customer currently moved to India for work. I urgently need to keep my UK SIM active as it is linked to my UK banking and other accounts for OTPs (One Time Passwords).

My roaming service was working fine here until January 16, 2026, but it has since stopped working completely. I am currently unable to send or receive texts, and my phone shows "No Service" or fails to register on a network.

Details:

• Plan: Pay As You Go

• Location: India (Tamil Nadu area)

• Issue: Cannot receive SMS/OTPs.

• Recent Actions: I successfully topped up an additional £5 credit recently to ensure I have a balance, but the service has not resumed.

Troubleshooting tried so far:

• Restarted the handset multiple times.

• Topped up credit.

• Tried manual network selection.

Could a community guide or staff member please assist? Since I am abroad, I cannot easily call 150. I suspect my SIM might need a refresh on the network side or there is a local partner issue.

Thanks,
Franklin

[XRaySpeX]

When did you leave UK? How have used it between then & Jan 16? When did you previously make a chargeable action? 

[bristolian]

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@franklinfeliex wrote:

• Location: India (Tamil Nadu area)

• Issue: Cannot receive SMS/OTPs.

•  

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Is the underlying issue, that you don't have coverage of a local Indian network?

Or do you, and you can still make & receive calls, but the issue genuinely is specific to text messages?

All new PAYG SIMs need to be activated on EE's UK network, before roaming is auto-enabled for use abroad. This includes migrations from pay-monthly.

[Colstalex]

Maybe a bit late now, but if you had got a Lebara sim they include India as an inclusive roaming country. To activate it it has to be in the UK first. If you know someone in the UK you could ask them to buy you a sim (£1 from corner shops), you could generate a PAC online and give it to Lebara online. Ask the person to put it in a phone to activate it, then they could courier it to you.

Convoluted I know but maybe a solution if you are there for a while.

[bristolian]

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@Colstalex wrote:

Convoluted I know but maybe a solution if you are there for a while.

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No more convoluted than sending the existing EE PAYG SIM back to the UK for the same person to activate and then courier it back!

If that's the underlying reason here, of course.

[franklinfeliex]

Mine's an e-Sim actually. Not sure if it would work. 

[bristolian]

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@franklinfeliex wrote:

Mine's an e-Sim actually. Not sure if it would work. 

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That does create a complication, you'd have to courier your phone back to the UK instead!

Or convert back to physical SIM, and have yours replaced by postal delivery to your billing address. Get it activated in the UK by a trusted friend/relative, and posted back to you.

[Colstalex]

E-sim only, most phones can take both?

[bristolian]

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@Colstalex wrote:

E-sim only, most phones can take both?

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Indeed so, only the iPhone Air AFAIK - is eSIM only.

Problem is the roaming activation though, on PAYG. Having an eSIM just complicates things.