News –The communication regulator Communication Authority of Kenya has extended SIM Cards registration period by six months.
Unregistered Kenyans will have upto October 15 this year to comply with the directive that requires everyone to update details with their respective service providers.
“It is the responsibility of the operators who will advise on whether to switch off the unregistered lines or probably give an extension and allow as many Kenyans as possible to register,” Chiloba had stated in his earlier press briefings.
Communication boss Ezra Chiloba, said when the new timeline elapses, those who will have not complied will be punished and their lines completely shut down.
He also said there will be no extension of the deadline once October 15 reaches adding that the move to extend was informed by the idea that few people had complied to-date.
This new date was arrived at after CA held extensive consultations with the mobile network operators in the country among them, Aitel, Telkom and Safaricom.
“The requirement to update subscriber registration details is being done primarily to protect consumers of telecommunication services – who is you and me. Incidences of sim-boxing, financial fraud, kidnapping, terrorism, and related crimes prevail in situations of compromised sim card registration processes,” Chiloba remarked.
During registration, mobile subscribers are expected to present their original National Identification ID card together with a mark shot photo which is taken on the spot. The exercise takes less than 3 minutes.
Chiloba argued that the directive to have subscribers’ details updated was in line with regulations to reduce fraud cases resulting from unregistered SIM Cards which have flooded the market.
