The National Communications Authority (NCA) has withdrawn its earlier directive to telecommunication companies to bar calls from customers who have not registered their SIM cards yet.
According to reports, following the new directive by the regulator, NCA, the telcos have now stopped barring calls by their subscribers who are yet to complete their SIM card registration.
It is believed the regulator’s new directive is on the back of the backlash from the public.
SIM card owners in Ghana who failed to re-register their cards started facing punitive actions on Monday, September 5, 2022, ahead of the September 30 deadline.
Meanwhile, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) has called on Parliament’s Select Committee on Communications to call the Minister of Communications and the National Communication Authority (NCA) to order over the sanctions meted out to SIM card users yet to re-register their cards.
The NDC in a statement issued on Monday, September 12, opined that the actions of the Minister and the NCA have been arbitrary and lawless, having no constitutional backing whatsoever, and thus must be halted.
“It is an indisputable fact that the re-registration of mobile SIM cards policy and its attendant sanctions that are being meted out to Ghanaians by the Ministry of Communications and the National Communications Authority are neither backed by the SIM Registration Regulations, 2011 (L.I 2006) nor the National Identity Register Regulations, 2012 (L.I 2111) or any law in force in the country.
“The decision by these entities to restrict the SIM Cards of Ghanaians including those who have already re-registered their SIM Cards is therefore unlawful, irresponsible and unacceptable to say the least,” part of the statement signed by General Secretary Johnson Asiedu Nketia read.
Per the Communication Ministry, persons who fail to comply with the directive would have their SIM cards blocked after September 30.
