Accra,– Some customers of mobile telecommunication networks have appealed to Government to extend the deadline for the ongoing SIM card re-registration exercise.
They said the March 31 deadline for the registration exercise was untenable in view of the long queues that had characterised the registration centres and the issues of Ghana Card acquisition.
The customers made the appeal in an interview with the Ghana News Agency during a visit to selected registration centres in Accra, on Thursday.
Beatrice Amadi, an MTN subscriber at the Osu Oxford Street Branch, expressed worry at the long and frustrating waiting time, and called on Government to reconsider the March 31 deadline.
She said: “Even though the process should be ordinarily fast, the overwhelming numbers have made it rather slow.”
At the Teshie First Junction, where an MTN office is located, prospective registrants had formed long winding queues as early as 0700 hours hoping of have their SIMs verified after an earlier registration on their phones.
Daniel Lamptey, a Vodafone subscriber, said the long queue he had endured at the registration centre nearly cost him his job, having failed to register his SIM in the last three days.
As at 0730 hours when the GNA visited the Junction Mall in Sakumono, the situation was not different at the MTN and Vodafone offices as people had already thronged the centres, which were yet to open for work.
“It will be appropriate for the Government to extend the time for the SIM registration because of the alarming rate of the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic,” Paa Kwaw, a Vodafone subscriber, said.
“There are long long queues everywhere. Some of us have not been to work for days because of this exercise. Something must be done. It is very frustrating. I am here with my whole family, and this is our third day. The deadline has to be extended if not, I don’t know how this will work,” Joycelyn Aidoo, a middle-aged woman told the GNA.
The team also visited the MTN, AirtelTigo and Vodafone offices at Dansoman, where registration was ongoing with people in queues.
The re-registration exercise, which commenced on October 1, 2021, is expected to end on March 31, 2022.
It is in accordance with the Subscriber Identity Module Registration Regulations, 2011, LI 2006 to, among other objectives, curb SIM boxing and other criminal activities.
With the directive from the Ministry of Communication and Digitisation, any SIM that is not accordingly re-registered with biometric information will be blocked.
By James Amoh Jnr/Benjamin A. Commey/Paul D. Quarcoo
Source: Ghana News Agency
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