Individuals whose SIM cards will be blocked after the September 30 deadline for re-registration can only retrieve them within a six-month grace period, according to the National Communications Authority (NCA).
Unregistered SIM cards will then be removed entirely from the system.
According to Kwame Gyan, NCA’s Deputy Director for Consumer and Corporate Affairs, this is part of the punitive measures that will be implemented to rid the system of unregistered SIM cards.
On Prime Morning on Tuesday, he told Roselyn Felli that there is no limit for SIM card registration because people buy SIM cards on a daily basis.
His remarks follow the NCA’s decision to implement some punitive measures against users who have not registered their SIM cards beginning Monday, September 5, 2022.
“After going off the network on October 1, you have a six-month window to reclaim your number by going through the registration process.” If you don’t do that within 6 months, we’ll assume you don’t want your phone number back,” he said.
On a weekly rotational basis, outgoing calls and data services for a sequential batch of numbers will be blocked for two days.
Mr Gyan believes that the NCA’s action will ensure and enable people who have yet to register their Ghana cards to do so.
“Registration cannot be stopped,” he added, giving the impression that people continue to buy SIM cards every day. If you buy a new SIM card and use the Ghana card, they will link it up for you, register it for you, and then hand over the SIM card to you.”
Again, the Deputy Director for Consumer and Corporate Affairs stated that the NCA is following Ministry of Communications and Digitalisation directives to block all unregistered SIM cards.
According to the Deputy Director, nearly 70% of the population started the re-registration process, but only about 20% finished by August 25, 2022.
All telecom operators in Ghana were legally mandated by the SIM Registration Regulation, LI 2006, to deactivate all unregistered SIMs in the country on March 3, 2012, or face penalties.
Also read: MNOs have started blocking unregistered SIM cards
This is in accordance with the licencing requirement imposed on all telecom operators by the Electronic Communication Act, Act 775 of 2008, which requires all telecom operators to retain subscriber data.
Prior to that, Kwame Gyan stated that using an unregistered SIM card in the country is illegal, necessitating the re-registration process.
He urged all Ghanaians, both those who had already begun the registration process and those who had yet to do so, to finish it as soon as possible.
Source: JoyOnline
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