All SIM Cards Not Registered Completely To Be Deactivated On Nov. 30 – Ursula
The Communications and Digitalisation Minister, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful has announced that her outfit has rolled out plans to deactivate all SIM cards yet to be registered by November 30, 2022.
Sim cards that have been linked to Ghana Cards but not done the second phase of registration will be blocked from accessing data services on November 20 and completely deactivated on Wednesday, November 30, 2022, the Ministry said in a statement issued on November 11.
The statement added that it is part of measures taken by the Ministry to reduce SIM-related fraud incidents, which have currently seen a decline with the commencement of the exercise.
It further warned people to desist from using Ghana cards of other people in the registration process, which they say is largely to blame for the huge numbers of people that have linked their Ghana Card details to their SIM cards but are having challenges capturing their biometric data.
“One key reason why some of those who have linked phone numbers to Ghana cards have been unable to complete the bio capture of stage two is that they used other people’s cards to link their numbers. This includes vendors who used the cards of others without the knowledge or consent of the card owners. Their inability to complete phase two attests to the robustness of the authentication process designed into the SIM registration architecture. It will flush out all fakes. You cannot use someone else’s Ghana card to register your SIM,” a portion of the statement read.
She said an announcement will be made on measures to accommodate persons who do not have Ghana Cards to register their SIM cards.
This is expected to take place after ongoing consultations have been completed, she noted.
Currently, a total of 30,011,082 SIM cards have been linked to Ghana Cards, thereby completing the first phase of the registration process.
As of November 9, 20,892,970 subscribers had completed both the linkage and capture of their biometric data.
The Minister asked subscribers facing challenges in registering their SIM cards to contact the National Communications Authority (NCA) or their respective network operators for necessary assistance.
According to her, the priority of the Communications Ministry is to ensure digital inclusion and to provide a secure environment for Ghanaians to access digital services.
“The Ministry has been working tirelessly on the development and implementation of policies to this effect. We can all attest to the fact that there has been a noticeable decline in SIM-related fraud since the commencement of the registration exercise,” she stated.