Ghana Card to be used for SIM re-registration

The National Communications Authority (NCA) on Monday announced that the Ghana Card, for which a mass registration and issuance for Ghanaian citizens is on-going, would be used for re-registration of Subscriber Identity Module Card (SIM) cards, when the exercise is over.

The nationwide mass registration and issuance of the card, being carried out now by the National Identification Authority (NIA) began in the Greater Accra Region Monday, April 29, 2019, and would end in that region on Saturday July 6, 2019.

The registration will be extended to all regions from July 15, 2019 to March 31, 2020.

Nana Dufie Badu, Head of Consumer and Corporate Affairs of the NCA, announced the use of the Ghana Card for the SIM card registration, at a day’s seminar on the operations and activities of the NCA, organised by the Authority for members of the Parliamentary Press Corps (PPC) on Accra.

She however did not state how soon the Ghana Card would be used for the SIM Card re-registration after the exercise.

According to the Head of NCA Consumer and Corporate Affairs, about 41 million SIM cards, had so far being registered.

She said after a period of 90 days without any use of a SIM card, the card would be allocated to a new subscriber.

Nana Badue said it was an offence to do a pre-registration of SIM cards for users, and advised the general public to ensure that their SIM cards bear their own names and other details rather than those of vendors.

She asked subscribers to be wary of giving out their numbers to unknown persons, as that attracts unsolicited messages from unknown entities.

Nana Badu denied allegations that the NCA was politically influenced in its exercise to close down some FM stations in Accra, which did not have authorisation, as the owners of the stations were not asked of their political identity before their registration.

It came to light at the seminar that, the NCA was putting in place, a number of measures to improve telecommunications services, and includes rates for telecommunication transactions for the disabled.

For the visually impaired, decoders with special sound effects would soon be imported into the country to enable them to have a feel of the images they cannot see on the screens.

Source: GNA