The Minister of Communications and Digitalisation, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, has called on individuals who have had their SIM cards deactivated despite their genuine challenges regarding securing a Ghana Card to contact the National Communication Authority (NCA) for assistance.
She emphasized that affected users must provide evidence of having applied for their Ghana Card to be exempted from the re-registration exercise.
“In recognition of the fact that not everyone has a Ghana Card, individuals who have not registered their SIMs have been asked to submit evidence of having applied for their Ghana Card to the NCA, and they will be exempted from the exercise,” she told Parliament on Thursday, June 8, 2023.
The Minister further noted that subscribers outside the country are also exempted from the re-registration process but are required to register their SIM cards with their passports. Once these subscribers activate roaming on their devices, the mobile network operators (MNOs) can identify their location.
The NCA has directed that SIM cards detected to be outside the country for six months should be temporarily exempted until the subscribers can complete their registration. Subscribers encountering difficulties in registering their SIM cards while abroad are advised to contact the NCA for assistance via email.
Ursula Owusu-Ekuful’s comments come after more than 9 million SIM cards were deactivated due to users’ failure to re-register their cards.
The Minister emphasized the government’s commitment to the SIM registration exercise and stated that even if the deadline were extended, some individuals would still not comply.
