No outgoing calls and data services for unregistered SIM Cards – NCA

No outgoing calls and data services for unregistered SIM cards as The National Communication Authority (NCA) is set to block access effective 5th September 2022.

However, for those who have not registered their SIM cards, their SIM cards will be blocked after 30th September 2022.

This has attracted a lot of comments and public outcry over the sudden punitive measures NCA wishes to extend to persons who have failed to register their cards, albeit the Authority’s extension date for registration is slated for 30th September 2022.

Effective 5th September 2022, all unregistered SIM cards will be blocked, and for most people, this could pose a possible threat to their daily lives and businesses. The measures by the NCA starts on 5th September 2022, and data measures start on 12th September 2022.

It is essential to point out that NCA will carry out this exercise once a week in sequential order on a rotational basis for two days.

A timely intervention available for you will be to take advantage of the window period to have your SIM card registered to avoid this interim punitive measure and, most importantly, avoid your SIM getting blocked totally after 30th September 2022.

A report on NCA’s official website outlines the following punitive measures:

1. From Monday, 5th September 2022, subscribers who have not started their registration will have all outgoing calls re-routed to an Interactive Voice Recording (IVR) for a SIM registration sensitization message to be played before all calls are connected.
2. 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 biodata captured, will also face similar disruption in service from Wednesday, 7th September 2022.
3. Punitive measures for data services will, however, kick in from 12th September.
4. Outgoing calls and data services will be blocked for these affected subscribers for 48 hours once a week once the punitive measures kick in for September 2022.
5. Subscribers who have neither begun Stage 1 nor completed Stage 2 of the SIM Registration process will be allowed to reconnect their SIMs after duly completing the two stages of the registration process.
6. After 30th September 2022, these SIMs, as described above, will not have access to any service as their SIMs will be deactivated. Subscribers will have a period of six (6) months to register to redeem their SIMs, failing which their numbers will be churned – that is, re-assigned to the pool to be sold to potential new subscribers. 

The NCA encourages subscribers to register their SIMs to avoid the associated inconvenience and potential disruption in service after 30th September. Subscribers are further reminded that all Data SIMS, SIMs in devices such as MiFis, routers, trackers, etc., must also be registered.

The NCA recounts that Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) are continuing with SIM registration at their customer care centres and through agents deployed across the country.

Subscribers who have completed stage one (that is linking their Ghana Cards with their SIM cards by dialling *404#) with access to smartphones and internet connectivity are encouraged to download the GH SIM SELF REG app on the Google Play Store to complete their registration.