The government’s move to implement the SIM Card Registration Regulations (2015) has left millions of mobile customers facing disconnections.
According to the Communications Authority (CA), mobile phone subscribers who have registered SIM cards without giving their photo ID will be disconnected till April 15.
“The rules state that proper SIM card registration includes a photo ID, and since 2017 we have asked mobile service providers to comply, but they have not done so,” the regulator said.
“They’ve asked for more time to reach their customers, but we’ve reached an agreement date, and they have to do it by April 15.”
“We continue to engage with our teams and our customers and have already launched a targeted registration awareness campaign to ensure that our customers follow proper registration procedures”, said Telkom Kenya.
But according to a source in CA, the number of people affected could be in lakhs. “This is going to affect mostly those who have registered their SIM cards between 2002 and 2015, and we find that they are mostly older customers who are reluctant to provide. His photo ID,” said the source.
As per the latest sector statistics report, the number of mobile subscribers in the country stood at 64.8 million as of September 2021.
This is a 76 percent increase from 36.8 million subscribers as of September 2015.
If implemented, the directive could have a significant impact on lower levels of operations and mobile service providers.
Safaricom currently leads the market with 31.4 million a month active subscribers, including 28 million on M-Pesa and 23.7 million on mobile data networks last year.
The company’s average revenue per user on Voice, M-Pesa and Mobile Data was Sh257, Sh256 and Sh186 respectively.
The directive will also affect individuals who have purchased multiple SIM cards but have not yet registered all of them using their photo IDs.
“We are yet to receive exact figures for customers who have not onboarded, and those are undecided for us. We have insisted that they be cut, but the operators are saying that these are some of their high-value customers,” said the CA source, who did not wish to be named as they are not authorized to speak to the media.
“We will soon issue a public notice that in seven days, your number will stop working unless you register using your photo ID with the concerned customer care agent,” the source said.
The CA further said that enforcement of the regulation is part of efforts to have a more stringent SIM card registration process that may include the capturing of biometric data in the future. The government’s move to implement the SIM Card Registration Regulations (2015) has left millions of mobile customers facing disconnections.
The company’s average revenue per user on Voice, M-Pesa and Mobile Data was Sh257, Sh256 and Sh186 respectively.
“We will soon issue a public notice that in seven days, your number will stop working unless you register using your photo ID with the concerned customer care agent,” the source said.
The CA further said that enforcement of the regulation is part of efforts to have a more stringent SIM card registration process that may include the capturing of biometric data in the future.
Why Safaricom is still asking you to update your SIM registration details.
It is common for every Safaricom customer to be bothered by Telcom messages throughout the day. However, many users are receiving a notification which seems quite strange and now people are questioning its purpose. If you’re among the numbers, you’ve probably seen a response message asking you to visit a Safaricom shop. The travel agenda is to update your SIM registration. The message looks something like this:
“Dear Customer, to update your SIM registration immediately visit a Safaricom shop, dealer or agent with original ID. Dial *106# for the lines registered on your ID,” the message read.
“All mobile operators are verifying that all customers have registration documents attached to all their lines. As part of the process, some customers will be contacted to visit any of our registration points indicated with their ID to confirm their registered lines. The source told Gadgets Africa.
Normally, it would leave anyone wondering what this all means. It also raises the question of why Safaricom needs to update the information they already have. However, it seems that the update is a process that goes beyond Safaricom as it is a requirement from the industry regulator.
A source close to Safaricom told Gadgets Africa, it is actually a process led by the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA). Essentially, Safaricom wants to make sure all lines are connected to the right person.
