The deadline for the reregistration of SIM cards has been extended to September 30, 2022.[ads1]
The deadline for the registration was initially scheduled for July 31, 2022 but it has been extended for another two months to give enable more people to register.
According to reports, unregistered SIM cards at end of August, 2022 will be barred from certain services.
To enable people to feel comfortable with the registration, a SIM registration app will be launched to allow people to register their SIM Cards themselves with GH¢5 per a registration.[ads2]
This comes in contrary to a statement by Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, the Minister of Communication and Digitalisation that the Ministry would not extend the set deadline for the nationwide SIM card registration exercise.
She was emphatic that failure to adhere to this new directive will result in the loss of numbers.
According to her, Ghana enacted the Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) Registration Regulations, 2011 (L.I. 2006) primarily to reduce mobile phone related crimes such as prank calls, cyber-crime, mobile money fraud, and its related issues and general security.
She said all unregistered SIM cards would be deactivated by the end of July this year, and advised mobile phone users yet to register their SIM cards to do so to meet the deadline.[ads3]
The lawmaker indicated that mobile phone subscribers and users in the country had been provided enough time and opportunity to register their SIM cards adding that “there is no way we are going to extend the deadline again”.
She explained that SIM card registration was essential because the exercise would greatly help the country in its efforts to prevent online and cybercrimes that had become more sophisticated.
The enactment was also intended to help the law enforcement agencies to identify the SIM card owners, track criminals who use phones for illegal activities, curb incidents such as phone theft, hate text messages, mobile fraud activities, inciting violence, and to combat crime such as SIM box fraud, she noted.[ads5]
