SIM Re-registration Extended To September 30
The Ministry of Communication and Digitalization has extended the period for the Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) card re-registration exercise by a month to 30 September 2022.
The exercise was scheduled to end today, 31 July 2022.
Minister of Communications and Digitalization, Mrs Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, announced the extension today at the ministry’s press briefing.
She said the ministry came to this decision after consultations with industry stakeholders.
“Upon consultation with the industry and in view of the challenges enumerated above, I have very reluctantly decided to grant a conditional extension,” she said.
The minister also added that they would impose certain restrictions on unregistered SIM cards at the end of August 2022.
“The programme will be extended to 30 September to end on the anniversary of its commencement. That will give us one full year of SIM registration. It will be reviewed at the end of this month, and any SIM that has not been fully registered by the end of August will be barred from receiving certain services, including voice and data services,” she started.
This extension comes after several entities and individuals called on the government to do so due to the challenges a lot of Ghanaians are facing with the process.
Popular among the entities are CUTS International, the Minority Caucus in parliament, and the Mobile Money Agents Association of Ghana (MMAAG).
Many people have challenges with the Ghana Card registration, which is needed for the SIM card registration.
Many have to queue for long hours in order to obtain a card due to few registration centres.
Mrs Owusu-Ekuful also said during the presser that the ministry would launch a self-service app for SIM registration on Tuesday, 2 August 2022, to allow people to register in the comfort of their homes.
However, each registration via the app will be subject to a GHC5 surcharge.
Meanwhile, as of 20 July 2022, the total number of Voice SIMs stood at 41, 979,398. Out of this number, 15,395,607 have linked their Ghana Card to their sim cards.
She had a word of caution for subscribers who had taken loans from telcos and were yet to pay.
“I have also been informed that some people who have obtained quick loans from their service providers have decided not to register those SIMs to avoid repaying the loans. That is evil corruption, and you will be found out”.
According to her, “the statistics indicate that there was a 90% drop in SIM registrations as soon as the first deadline was extended on 21 March. Until a week ago, there were no queues at any registration centre. People started rushing to register when they realized the deadline was imminent after going to sleep when it was extended”.
She added that all visitors to Ghana could now acquire SIM cards with their passports, and “I encourage the Airport Authority to work with (Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) to provide adequate venues for the acquisition of SIMS at the airport”.