Some Ghanaians who remained unfazed by cautions of sim blockades for failure to register are now sweating the consequences of their actions.
Described on social media as ‘Stubborn Academy’ for their resistance to registering their sim cards, and the confidence that their SIMs could not be blocked, the same people are now running helter-skelter to locate SIM registration points.
The Chronicle hit the city of Accra yesterday, and observed that the offices of the various telecommunication companies were filled with people who wanted to register their sim cards.
It is interesting to note that these places were virtually empty days after the government had extended the deadline for the registration exercise.
NCA SANCTIONS
The mad rush follows the implementation of punitive measures the National Communications Authority (NCA) had designed to culminate the yearlong nationwide SIM registration exercise.
In a statement the NCA issued announcing the sanctions, it said the implementation would kick in on Monday, September 5, 2022.
Starting Monday, subscribers who had not started their registration would have all outgoing calls re-routed to an Interactive Voice Recording (IVR) for a SIM registration sensitisation message to be played before all calls are connected.
Subscribers with uncompleted registration, that is, those who linked their Ghana Cards to their SIM Cards via *404#, but have not proceeded to have their bio-data captured, would also face a similar disruption in service from Wednesday, September 7, 2022.
However, the NCA stated that punitive measures for data services would go into effect on September 12. Outgoing calls and data services would be blocked for these affected subscribers for 48 hours once a week once the punitive measures kick in for the month of September, 2022.
Subscribers who have neither begun Stage 1 nor completed Stage 2 of the SIM Registration process would be allowed to reconnect their SIMs after duly completing the two stages of the registration process.
After September 30, 2022, these SIMs, as described above, would not have access to any service as their SIMs would be deactivated. Subscribers would have a period of six months to register to redeem their SIMs, failing of which their numbers w would be churned—that is, re-assigned to the pool to be sold to potential new subscribers.
As the NCA has begun rolling out the punitive measures, victims are feeling the heat already, as they are unable to make phone calls, though they can receive them from those who have registered.
Meanwhile, the NCA encourages subscribers to register their SIMs to avoid the associated inconvenience and potential disruption in service after September 30. Subscribers are further reminded that all data SIMS, that is SIMs in devices such as MiFis, routers, trackers, etc., must also be registered.
FOREWARNED IS FOREARMED
On her Facebook page, the Minister for Communications and Digitalisation, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, cautioned victims not to blame their service providers for their inaction should their sim be blocked for failure to register by the September 30 deadline.
According to her, the disciplinary steps outlined were prudent after evaluation of the registration exercise at the end of August.
According to her, any SIM that has not yet been completely registered will be unable to use voice and Internet services. Afterward, using unregistered SIMs would l be more expensive.
“At a subsequent press conference in September, the full scope of the sanctions will be revealed. If you suffer that fate as a result of your own inaction, kindly do not blame your service provider. To be forewarned is to be forearmed,” she warned.
COMPLAINTS
Meanwhile, some customers have complained of their SIM being blocked though they have registered.
Apart from complaints on radio and television programme especially yesterday, some took to social media to vent their spleen at the NCA, the Communications and Digitalization Ministry, and their various service providers.
However, checks by The Chronicle indicate that some customers may think they have registered because they visited their service providers and went through the process and were told the SIM had been registered.
But the challenge may be if the registration was done offline instead of online. If it was done online by the agent, it would be completed on the spot and the customer would receive a text message indicating a successful registration.
Failure on the part of the agent to ensure the details taken offline are activated online will result in customers thinking they have registered but technically not.
Ostensibly, those who believe they have registered but have their SIM blocked, should dial *400# and look out for B-Cap Yes, that means your biometric has been captured. Without the B-Cap Yes, your SIM is not fully registered.
