The existing SIM registration initiative has been urged for to be extended by members of the Mobile Money Agents Association of Ghana (MMAAG).
The committee recommends extending the process until January 2023 to allow all Ghanaians who have trouble getting their Ghana cards to do so so they can use the card to register their SIM cards.
The association released a statement to that effect, Mr. Evans Otumfuo, the General Secretary of MMAAG, made the request for the extension so that it will not be detrimental to their customers.
“As business people in the industry, it will be very detrimental to our businesses and the industry, in general, should Government pursue the 31st July 2022 deadline since many Ghanaians running into several million are yet to be registered and issued the Ghanaian Identification card.”
According to him, the business of Mobile Money is already struggling with the impact of E-levy, and the deactivation of unregistered SIM cards after July 31, 2022, will only not affect their business but the entire Ghanaian populace too.
Read the full statement:
REQUEST FOR EXTENSION OF SIM CARD RE-REGISTRATION EXERCISE
The management wishes to appeal to the Government and the Ministry of Communications and Digitalisation to in the interest of the gains made in the Communications industry to consider extending the deadline.
The Association has since endorsed this policy of Government due to its positive impact on our businesses by helping to curb fraud.
As business people in the industry, it will be very detrimental to our businesses and the industry, in general, should Government pursue the 31st July 2022 deadline since many Ghanaians running into several million are yet to be registered and issued the Ghanaian Identification card.
The business is already struggling with the impact of e-levy, and this blockage will only not affect us but the Ghanaian populace.
It’s very clear that millions of our customers and our members are willing to update their credentials with the common denominator, unfortunately, access to the National Identification Authority’s service is really frustrating and difficult.
We appeal that with realism and having considered the above inconveniences and challenges, the Government should extend the deadline to January 2023.
It’s our pledge that we will support the government in this exercise through our various touch points across the country to ensure significant Ghanaians update their SIMs. We believe this time frame should enable the NIA to decentralize the exercise for the smooth reach of Ghanaians.
Source: Ghanatodayonline.com