As part of measures to minimize mobile money fraud and support financial inclusion across the vulnerable sectors, the Ministry of Communications and Digitalisation (MoCD) will launch the National SIM Card Registration Exercise across the country next month, October 1, 2021.
The Subscriber Identity Module Registration Regulations, 2011, L.I 2006 mandates network operators or service providers to activate a Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) only after the subscriber registers the SIM as directed by the NCA.
The Minister for Communications and Digitalisation, Mrs. Ursula Owusu-Ekuful said this when she took her turn at the Minister’s Press Briefing at the Ministry of Information’s Press Center, Sunday, 5th September 2021.
According to her, every subscriber is required to provide the name and residential or occupational address, date of birth, in the case of an individual; and Certificate of Incorporation, in the case of a body corporate; or registration, in the case of a partnership or an unincorporated body of persons; and an identification document. Only the National Identity Card (Ghana Card) issued to an individual shall be used for registration of SIM cards of Citizens, Foreign Residents, and Foreigners staying in Ghana for more than 90 days.
Mrs. Owusu-Ekuful stressed that “SIM registration, when undertaken correctly as we intend to do, will reduce or eliminate fraudulent and criminal activities, help authorities ascertain the accurate number of valid and accurate SIMs on the networks, enable operators to build better demographics of their customer base and help them develop products and services to suit the various groupings”.
She says the Regulator, NCA, will also get more accurate data to regulate the industry even better.
She indicated that SIM Registration will enhance economic growth as more confidence is built in the telecommunications sector and people utilize secure devices to access E-Government services and other private mobile-based digital solutions.
Source: Mybrytfmonline.com /Kofi Atakora
