Sim Card registration procedures under review

The government is working to modify and secure methodology used in mobile phone Sim Card registration particularly in identity verification as cases of forgery run rampant.

Deputy Minister for Communication, Science and Technology, January Makamba, told the House that because of the unchecked use of fake documents in registering sim-cards.


In an interview with this paper yesterday, Tanzania    Communications Regulatory Authority (TCRA) Corporate Communications Manager, Innocent Mungy, admitted that there are challenges facing Sim Card registration.

However, he maintained that TCRA will address the ‘glitches’ but it will not repeat the entire exercise because according to him, ‘it will cost a lot of money.’

Earlier in parliament, the deputy minister’s announcement of the planned modification of the registration process was prompted by a question by Jaku Hashim Ayoub (CCM) MP, who wanted to know what the government is doing to curb the increasing abuse of Sim cards.

Ayoub also wanted to know when the government will come up with a law that will enforce penalties and punishment to telecommunication companies that keep selling unregistered Sim cards.

In his response, Deputy Minister Makamba said the government is actually already in the process of changing regulations to increase punishment to telecommunication providers who provide agents to conduct the registrations of the Sim cards.

The deputy minister said that according to the Electronic and Postal Communication Act (EPOCA) OF 2010, it is a criminal offence to use unregistered Sim cards.
“Whoever will be caught using unregistered Sim cards will be charged a penalty of 500,000/-, or jail term of 3 months, according to EPOCA section 131 and a supplier or trader who will be caught selling unregistered Sim cards will be charged a penalty of 3m/- or a jail term of not less than 12 months or both,” he said.

He said the public has been very cooperative in registering their Sim cards, attributing it to the fact that without registration, the user will not be able to access services such as mobile money transactions.

In April last year TCRA, mobile phone firms and police launched a crackdown meant to arrest violations of laws and regulations governing Sim Card registration and mobile phone use.

The move came hardly two months after The Guardian sought to know TCRA’s stance with regard to misuse of Sim Cards by unauthorized subscribers despite the fact that the law is clear about the matter.

Speaking to journalists in Dar es Salaam then, TCRA Director General Prof John Nkoma said the campaign was meant to protect the public against unlawful use of mobile phones.

The campaign, he said, was a result of the meetings held on April 4 and 11, 2013 between TCRA and mobile phone firms to review registration of Sim cards and other related issues which agreed on corrective measures to be taken.