NCA alerts public on sale of pre-registered SIM cards

Wa, April 16, GNA - The National Communication Authority (NCA) says certain registration agents of telecommunication companies are selling pre-registered SIM cards to mobile phone subscribers and advised the public not to buy such cards.

According to the NCA, it is not only criminal for some of the agents to indulge in such acts, but it is equally illegal for subscribers to patronise the service.

Mr. Abed Bandim, Consumer and Corporate Affairs Manager of the NCA, in interview with the Ghana News Agency in Wa cautioned all agents of the various telecommunication companies involved in the practice to either stop or face the full rigorous of the law if caught.

He said all those subscribers who had bought the pre-registered SIM Cards would have their mobile phone numbers rejected after the June 30 deadline given to subscribers to have their SIM Cards registered.

Mr. Bandim advised subscribers that due to identification purposes, it was appropriate they go personally and have their SIM Cards registered. He warned people who may try to circumvent the system by providing false information to desist from doing so, because after verification, those numbers would be rejected and the culprits punished.

The NCA Manager spoke against proxy registration, explaining that people who wish to register for incapacitated persons are supposed to use their personal identity cards. Operators should also devise ways of registering persons who could not access their registrations. Mr. Badim called on Ghanaians to use their driver's license, voters' identification card and national health insurance scheme cards as well as passport and the national identification card to register their SIM cards.

He announced that so far, more than 85 per cent of mobile phone subscribers had registered their numbers ahead of the June 30, deadline and that NCA was expecting to achieve 95 per cent coverage by the end of June.

Mr. Badim debunked public assertion that the NCA was keeping personal data of subscribers to secretly pass them on to some leaders of political parties for their personal interest.

He said registered detail of subscribers are treated confidential and only service providers have the mandate to them. The NCA Manager therefore advised mobile phone users not to entertain fears but to feel happy and register their SIM Cards on time to avoid loosing their phone numbers permanently. Mr. Badim is in the Upper West Region to educate subscribers on the importance and benefits of having their SIM Cards registered with service providers.