Method 1, mastered.
668 SIM Check: Send One SMS, See Every SIM on Your CNIC
The 668 SIM check tells you how many SIMs are registered on your CNIC. Text your 13-digit ID card number, with no dashes, to 668. PTA’s registry answers in about 30 seconds with a count for each network. One SMS costs about Rs 2 with tax. This page covers the exact format, the reply, and every fix for when nothing comes back. The wider picture sits at Check SIM Owner Details Pakistan.
Key takeaways
- Format: your 13-digit CNIC, no dashes, sent to 668. Cost: about Rs 2 with tax.
- The reply is a per-network count from PTA’s SIM registry, the SIM Information System 668 (“SVMS” is just a web nickname). It usually lands inside 30 seconds.
- Counts only. No names, no full numbers, and never anyone else’s record.
- Legal cap: 8 SIMs per CNIC, 5 voice + 3 data (Supreme Court of Pakistan, 5 November 2015). Foreigners and POC holders: 2.
- Free twin: cnic.sims.pk. Same registry, free and worldwide. It shows a dated counts table only. No activation dates, whatever other sites claim (checked first-hand, 30 August 2026).
- See an entry you do not know? Disown it at a franchise. The fee is capped at Rs 200 and waived in fraud.
One boundary first, as always. A 668 lookup reads your own record and nobody else’s. The code answers for the CNIC you send, not for the SIM you send it from. Pulling a stranger’s details is a PECA Section 16 offence, spelled out on our legality page. Everything below stays on the right side of that line.
On this page
How does the 668 SIM check work?
- Type your 13-digit CNIC. Digits only, no dashes.
- SMS it to 668. The query costs about Rs 2 with tax.
- Read the reply. It shows your SIM count, network by network, usually in about 30 seconds.
- Screenshot it with the date visible.
Four steps, no app, no account. Open your SMS composer. Type your 13-digit CNIC as one unbroken string, with no dashes and no spaces. Send it to 668. The SIM check code 668 works from any Pakistani SIM on any network, and each query costs roughly Rs 2 including tax.
Behind the code sits the national SIM registry. It ties every biometrically verified SIM in Pakistan — 208,057,255 active as of June 2026, per PTA’s telecom indicators — to the CNIC that passed BVS fingerprinting for it, and it holds the same record the regulator itself reads. Your SMS asks that registry one question about one CNIC. The reply comes back in about 30 seconds on a normal day, or a few minutes on a busy one. That is the whole machine. The jargon around it is decoded in our glossary.
What does the 668 CNIC check reply show?
The SIM information 668 sends back is a count, split by operator. Expect one line each for Jazz, Zong, Telenor and Ufone, plus SCO and ONIC where relevant. Each line gives the number of SIMs PTA’s registry holds against your CNIC on that network. No names appear, and no phone numbers either. That privacy cut is deliberate.
The reply speaks to SIMs, not to the identity card itself. So to confirm the NADRA record behind your number, see how to check your own CNIC details.
| What you see | What it means | Your move |
|---|---|---|
| Per-network counts | SIMs registered on your CNIC with each operator. | Add them up. Compare the total against what you actually use. |
| Total at or under 8 | Within the legal cap of 5 voice + 3 data. | Screenshot it with the date. Done till next month. |
| A count you do not recognise | Possible unknown or forgotten SIM. | Follow the moves on the count page. |
That screenshot habit earns its keep. A dated 668 reply is the baseline you can wave at a franchise counter someday. It is also the before-and-after proof if a rogue SIM ever appears. Thirty seconds now, an argument won later.
No reply from 668? The fix list
Nine times out of ten, a silent 668 CNIC check means a format slip or an empty balance. Re-send your 13-digit CNIC with no dashes, and keep about Rs 2 of credit on the SIM. Work down this table before you assume anything dramatic.
| Symptom | Likely cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| No reply at all | The format broke the parser. | Re-send it: 13 digits, zero dashes, zero spaces. |
| SMS will not send | Balance under about Rs 2. | Recharge, then try again. |
| Sent, still nothing after 10 min | Network congestion or a service window. | Wait, then retry once. Or use the free portal — same registry, no SMS. |
| Repeated failures over days | A SIM-side service issue. | Call your operator’s helpline (Jazz 111 · Zong 310 · Telenor 345 · Ufone 333). |
Nothing on that list costs more than a retry. The portal fallback matters most for overseas readers. The SMS route needs a Pakistani SIM, and the browser route does not.
Still stuck after every row? Ask PTA itself. Its WhatsApp Digital Assistant answers on 0315-0055055, live since 26 February 2026, and the toll-free consumer line is 0800-55055.
Mistakes that waste your Rs 2
Here are the classics, collected from real reader emails over the months.
- Typing the CNIC with dashes. This is the single most common failure.
- Sending it to 667 out of muscle memory. That code reports the registration status of the SIM in your hand, a different job we untangle in our 667-versus-668 comparison.
- Texting 9000 and waiting. 9000 is PTA’s spam-report line, not a SIM count service.
- Sending your CNIC to 76367. That code answers a different question: text N plus a phone number and it names that number’s current network, identity never included. Details on the 76367 network check page.
- Expecting names or numbers in the reply. The 668 SIM information service never returns those, for anyone.
- Checking once, feeling reassured, then never checking again. A monthly habit costs about Rs 2.
One mistake costs far more than Rs 2: downloading a “668 checker app”. No such app exists officially. The SMS is the method. Anything wearing that name in an app store is harvesting CNICs, a racket we take apart on the pak sim data page. If you think your CNIC is already circulating, our data-breach check walks through confirming it and locking things down.
668 SIM check vs the portal: when to use which
The 668 SMS and the cnic.sims.pk portal read the same PTA registry, so the two counts always agree. Pick by situation. The 668 SMS wins when you are offline, mid-commute, or on a basic phone. The portal at cnic.sims.pk wins almost everywhere else, and the table below shows why.
| Factor | 668 by SMS | cnic.sims.pk portal |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | About Rs 2 with tax per query. | Free. |
| Where it works | Needs a Pakistani SIM. | Any browser, worldwide. |
| ID accepted | CNIC. | CNIC, NICOP or POC. |
| What you get | A count for each network. | The same per-network counts in a dated table. No activation dates, despite what many sites claim (verified first-hand, 30 August 2026). |
| Best for | Basic phones and offline moments. | Monthly checks and overseas readers. |
Neither 668 nor the portal shows activation dates — the portal adds only the dated table format and the free, worldwide access. Full walkthrough: the portal guide.
Habit-wise, most readers settle on the portal monthly, plus 668 whenever something feels off. All 12 official channels, including the eight support ones, sit compared on the methods hub.
Frequently asked questions
Is the 668 SIM check free?
No. The 668 SIM check costs about Rs 2 including tax, because it is a paid SMS query to PTA’s registry. The free official alternative is cnic.sims.pk, which shows the very same record as a dated counts table: counts only, no activation dates. Any site claiming 668 itself is free makes our myths list.
How long does the reply take?
About 30 seconds on a normal day. The answer arrives as a plain SMS from the registry. Congestion can stretch that to a few minutes at busy hours. Past ten minutes, re-check your format and your balance, then retry once. If it still fails, switch to the free cnic.sims.pk portal, which reads the same data.
Does 668 show phone numbers or names?
Neither, by deliberate design. The reply is only a per-network count of SIMs registered on your CNIC. It carries no names and no phone numbers, for anyone. That privacy cut is why 668 cannot expose a stranger. To find the number of a SIM you are holding, use the own-number codes on the methods hub.
Can I run a 668 SIM check from abroad?
Only with a working Pakistani SIM and active roaming, because 668 must send from a local network. The practical overseas route is the free cnic.sims.pk portal. It runs in any browser, works worldwide, and accepts NICOP and POC as well as a standard CNIC. No Pakistani SIM is needed.
The count looks wrong. Now what?
Screenshot the reply first, with its date visible. Then follow the decision table on the count page. Identify the SIM, and disown at a franchise whatever is not yours. The disowning fee is capped at Rs 200 and waived in fraud. If fraud looks likely, call NCCIA at 1799 the same day.
What is the SIM check code 668?
668 is PTA’s official SMS shortcode for counting the SIMs registered on a CNIC. Text your 13-digit CNIC, with no dashes, and the registry replies with a per-network count. It works from any Pakistani SIM on Jazz, Zong, Telenor or Ufone, and one query costs about Rs 2 with tax.
Is a 668 CNIC check different from a 668 SIM check?
No, they are the same query seen from two ends. You send a CNIC, and the reply counts SIMs. Some readers say 668 CNIC check, others say 668 SIM check. Either way, the code reads one registry record and reports how many SIMs sit against that ID card number.
Roman Urdu mein
668 SIM check sab se tez tareeqa hai. Apna 13-hindsa CNIC (bina dash, bina space) likh kar 668 par SMS karein. Reply 30 second ke andar aata hai. Us mein har network par aapke SIM ki ginti hoti hai. Kharcha taqreeban Rs 2 hai, tax ke sath. Reply mein naam ya phone number nahi aate, sirf ginti aati hai. Jawab na aaye to pehle format aur balance check karein. Phir cnic.sims.pk use karein (free, wahi registry). Apna bhoola hua number nikalna ho to codes ki master sheet dekhein. Screenshot date ke sath save rakhein. Yehi aapka saboot hai.
Written and reviewed by Muhammad Hamza, founder and editor of CnicSimInfo. The 668 SMS method on this page traces to PTA‘s published channels and gets re-tested on real SIMs every quarter, alongside cnic.sims.pk. Last reviewed: 2 September 2026. See our Editorial Standards and the dated changelog.