The Communications Authority (CA) has set a cash penalty for Kenyans who will not register SIM cards by April 15, 2022.
According to the CA boss Ezra Chiloba, failure to register your sim card will result in hefty fine of up to Sh. 300,000 or a jail term of up to 6 months.
“There would be no extension so those still dragging their feet should wake up to the reality and register with their respective telecom service providers or face permanent deactivation,” Chiloba said.
SIM cards that have been inaccurately registered will also be targeted in the cleanup exercise.
“We want before the end of April all the networks to be cleaned up by deactivating all unregistered and improperly registered SIM cards from the networks,” he said.
In the registration exercise, mobile subscribers are expected to present their National Identification details and a photo, which is taken during the exercise that takes less than five minutes.
The enforcement of the regulations by the Communications Authority comes after a noticeable multitude of unregistered SIM cards in the country are being sold to folks by unlicensed operators and agents, says Julius Lenaseiyan of CA’s Telcom Compliance, Licensing and Standards.
According to CA, most unregistered cards have been found to be with the old folks who had bought their mobile phones before 2015 when there was ineffective law.
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“The SIM card regulations 2015 now stipulates that the Mobile operators namely Safaricom, Airtel and Telkom should re-register their subscribers by updating their details with a digital passport size photo of the customers.
“A person who intends to register a SIM-card shall provide verifiable registration particulars which include a national ID for citizens and passports for refugees and other outsiders,” Lenaseiyan stated.
According to CA, although the process of registering SIM cards has been ongoing, it has become slow with operators always calling for extended time to consult their customers.