Number Portability in Peru: Deadlines and What Can Go Wrong

What number portability is and who regulates it

Number portability is the right to switch mobile or fixed-line carriers without losing your phone number. In Peru, this process is regulated by OSIPTEL through the Consolidated Text (TUO) of the Number Portability Regulation, which applies to both mobile public service and fixed telephony. The declared goal of the rule is for the carrier switch to be fast, secure, and not dependent on the goodwill of the carrier you are leaving.

Since August 2024, an amended version of the regulation has been in force that strengthens the security of the process: it eliminated the use of sworn statements as a substitute for the security PIN and shifted the generation and validation of that code to the Centralized Database Administrator, instead of leaving it to the receiving carrier. The execution window was also narrowed (from midnight to 3:00 a.m., according to OSIPTEL’s own press materials), and carriers are now required to notify users if their portability cannot be executed in the switching window of the day after their request.

The legal deadline: 24 hours for mobile service

The single most important number to remember is this: for mobile public service, OSIPTEL’s regulation requires portability to be executed within a maximum of 24 hours from the moment the request is filed with the receiving carrier (Article 27 of the TUO states this in exactly those terms). That means that, absent a valid rejection ground, your number should be working on the new carrier within that same day.

For fixed-line telephony, the deadline is not expressed as a fixed number of hours; instead it depends on the installation date coordinated between carriers, which introduces more variability and less predictability than in the mobile case.

It is worth noting that this 24-hour limit is a regulatory cap on the technical execution of the switch, not necessarily the total time the whole process can take if there are objections, rejections, or if you choose to accept a delay the carrier offers you (the current rule allows the carrier to notify you of a possible delay and lets you decide whether to accept it or cancel the request).

What is required to request portability

Based on the available official information, the process requires, at minimum:

• Identity validation with the receiving carrier (normally using your national ID document).
• Express consent through a security code (PIN), now generated and validated by the Centralized Database Administrator rather than by the carrier on its own.
• Completing the “Portability Format” — a form whose minimum required content is defined in the regulation’s annex, which the receiving carrier must make available to you.
• Receiving proof of your request (a signed copy or equivalent) that serves as evidence of the date and time you started the process.

There is no publicly detailed list, as verified here, of additional “documents” (such as bills or contracts) you must submit beyond your identification and PIN-based consent; the process is designed to be largely digital and validated between carriers through the centralized database.

Why your portability request can be rejected

Article 4 of the TUO establishes specific grounds for rejection. The ones most relevant to a user are:

1. An overdue, already-due balance on your last telephone bill. If you have an outstanding balance on a bill that has already expired (not one that has not yet come due), that is a valid ground for rejection.
2. Service suspension due to a judicial order, debt, insolvency, or improper/prohibited use of the line.
3. No active contractual relationship, outside the 30-calendar-day window after service was terminated with the previous carrier.
4. Less than one month of tenure with the carrier you are leaving (the “losing carrier” or concesionario cedente).

Press sources tied to the 2024 amendment indicate a minimum debt threshold (reported as S/1) may have been set for a debt-based rejection to be valid, aiming to prevent trivial or symbolic amounts from blocking the process. The exact figure currently in force was not confirmed directly against the regulatory text itself, so if your portability was rejected over a very small debt, it is worth specifically challenging that ground with OSIPTEL.

Can unpaid debt legally block your portability?

Yes, but with important nuances. The debt that can block portability is the one on your last already-due telephone bill, not any generic debt, not an unrelated additional service, and — per the recent amendments — apparently not a negligible amount. If a carrier rejects your request citing a debt that does not meet these conditions — for example, a bill that has not yet come due, a charge you have already disputed, or a trivial amount — you have grounds to challenge that decision.

What happens if the losing operator delays or sabotages the process

The regulation does not give the losing carrier (the one you are leaving) discretion to block portability outside the explicit grounds in Article 4. If your number is not ported within the 24-hour deadline (for mobile service) without a valid rejection ground, or if the carrier gives you contradictory information, fails to validate the process on time, or does not properly notify you of a delay, that constitutes a reportable breach.

No official source was found specifying an automatic monetary compensation owed to the user for the mere fact that the portability deadline was missed (unlike, for example, other service-quality regimes that do provide for automatic compensation tied to technical indicators). This is explicitly flagged as unverified in this page’s warning: if your case involves a prolonged delay, it is reasonable to specifically ask, in your complaint, whether any compensation applies, rather than assuming there is none.

How to file a complaint with OSIPTEL if the deadline is missed

The complaint route follows OSIPTEL’s general framework for telecommunications services:

1. File a complaint directly with the carrier (this may be the receiving carrier or the losing one, depending on who failed to comply), stating the exact date of your portability request and the fact that the 24-hour deadline was exceeded.
2. Appeal to OSIPTEL if the carrier rejects your complaint or does not respond satisfactorily. OSIPTEL’s Administrative Tribunal for User Complaint Resolution (TRASU) issues the final administrative decision, at the second and last administrative instance.

Always keep the number or proof of your portability request — it is the key evidence to show when the 24-hour clock started running and to support your complaint.

Bottom line

Peru’s legal framework is clear on the number that matters most: 24 hours as the maximum deadline to port a mobile number, counted from when you file the request. The grounds for rejection are limited by regulation (an overdue, already-due debt, service suspension, lack of an active contractual relationship, or less than a month of tenure), which means a carrier cannot invent excuses outside that list. If your portability is delayed without a valid ground, you have a clear complaint path: first the company, then OSIPTEL. What remains officially unconfirmed is whether there is an automatic monetary compensation for missing the deadline — something worth asking about explicitly in your complaint.