The SIM card re-registration deadline has since elapsed, and some SIM card holders who did not submit the necessary details to their telcos have had their connections suspended.
However, the big question is how has this been done, and can customers be able to re-activate their SIM cards by re-confirming their ownership information?
The answer is yes, and if you need to know how to go about it, you can refer to this earlier article.
Over the day, still, some details have emerged about what can be done to ensure compliance, while giving some SIM card holders the opportunity to re-confirm their registration details.
To note, the earlier April 15 deadline was extended for six months to give Kenyans sufficient time to complete the exercise. However, this was not the case because millions of SIM cards had still not been fully registered as of this past weekend. The number was said to be around 12 million.
In terms of compliance, Safaricom led the pack at 93 percent, followed by Airtel Kenya at 81.2 percent. Telkom Kenya’s data has not been revealed, but it is said that more than 60 percent of its customers had not re-registered their SIM cards.
Each operator is under obligation to ensure 100 percent compliance. The Telkom Kenya case is under review and details shall be provided upon conclusion of the review – Communications Authority of Kenya
To this end, the CA has issued another directive to push for improved compliance by giving telcos another 60 days to encourage their users to submit the needed details. To note, this is not an extension of the deadline, ‘but a period for the mobile operators to take certain actions including denial of service to prompt further compliance.’
The step is in the form of graduated denial of service to SIM card holders not duly registered and eventual deactivation.
The services to be affected by this action include voice, SMS, data, and mobile banking services.
An additional audit will be taken by the CA to establish the level of compliance. Any telco that will be non-compliant will be fined up to 0.5 percent of its annual gross turnover.
