SIM card registration deadline extended again

The Minister of Communications and Digitalisation, Mrs Ursula Owusu-Ekuful in a press conference today stated that the SIM card registration deadline has been extended to 30th September to end the anniversary of its commencement.

According to the minister, extending the deadline to September will give us one full year of SIM registration. She also stated that it will be reviewed at the end of this month and any SIM that has not been fully registered by the end of August will be barred from receiving certain services including voice and data services.

“The statistics indicate that there was a 90% drop in sim registrations as soon as the first deadline was extended on 21st March. Until a week ago, there were no queues at any registration centre. People started rushing to register when they realized the deadline was imminent after going to sleep when it was extended” stated Mrs Ursula Owusu-Ekuful.

In a post sighted by TheGhanaTech.com, the minister also stated that all visitors to Ghana can now acquire SIMS with their passports and I encourage the Airport Authority to work with MNOs to provide adequate venues for the acquisition of SIMS at the airport.

“As indicated earlier, these will be valid for 3 months and if they want to use them for a longer period, they must acquire a non-citizen ID card to validate their SIMs. MNOS must provision their systems to send notifications to this category of SIMs” she stated.

Mrs Ursula Owusu-Ekuful also said the SIM Registration App will be available for download on both android and IOS this week barring any unforeseen circumstances. Each registration via the app will be subject to a 5 cedi surcharge.

“Non-resident Ghanaians who do not have the Ghana card can use their passports to complete the process but will be required to update their details with the Ghana card once they acquire it. They have up to December 2022 to do so. I urge them to comply with these directives and to contact the NCA if they have any peculiar challenges” said Ursula.

“I have also been informed that some people who have obtained quick loans from their service providers have decided not to register those SIMs to avoid repaying the loans. That is evil corruption and you will be found out” the minister stated.

The Minister of Communications and Digitalisation, Mrs Ursula Owusu-Ekuful made a statement that Ghanaians who are on official assignment outside the country or students on scholarships who cannot acquire the Ghana card by December should contact the NCA.