The National Communications Authority (NCA) says the GH¢5 charge on the self-service SIM registration application will go to the app developers.
According to the Deputy Corporate Affairs Director at the NCA, Kwame Gyan, the GH¢5 charge for anyone using the self-service SIM registration application will go to the app developers but not the NCA. “The money goes to the app developers; those who built and are maintaining the app,” he told Citi News
“It doesn’t go to the NCA,” Mr. Gyan added.
The government announced that the self-service registration application, which will be made available on both Android and IOS platforms, will be rolled out from today.
Government over the weekend extended the deadline for the SIM card re-registration to September 30, 2022 and further announced that a self-service sim reregistration app will be launched today, August 2.
According to her, this app will enable the public re-register their sim cards in the comfort of their homes without having to queue at any network operator’s office.
Before the app will be rolled out some Ghanaians have expressed their dissatisfaction with the GH¢5 charge.
The Concerned Mobile Network Subscribers have described as illegal the Communications Ministry’s implementation of the GH¢5 charge to be paid by the public when registering their SIM cards with the self-service SIM registration App.
The group say it would discourage more people from registering their cards and they attacked the directive for foreign nationals and other citizens abroad’s the ability to use their passports to re-register their SIMs while Ghanaians without the Ghana card in Ghana cannot, as double standards and discriminatory.
The group led by former Member of Parliament for Kumbungu Constituency, Ras Mubarak said no one but the sector minister should be blamed for the confusion that has characterised the exercise.
” Everybody who knows anything about technology would know that the plan rolled out by the Minister was bound to fail. She was given advice, and refused to heed the advice and here we are. She’s find out to be flip-flopping and very inconsistent. She’s suggesting persons who live abroad can actually register their SIM using their passport, that is discriminatory. How do you say that you can’t use a passport of Ghana to do the registration yet you are making provisions for Ghanaians who live abroad to use the passports? To have such a discriminatory policy clearly is very unfortunate, inconsistent, incoherent, lack of proper planning and that is why we are where we are” he said.
The group also raised concerns about the GH¢5 surcharge for a new Self-Service application to be made available for download soon for self-registration.
“She doesn’t have Parliamentary approval, it is only Parliament who can impose fees and charges. As far as we know, she had not gone to Parliament to ask for Parliament to approve the so-called surcharge of Ghc5 for people to be able to re-register so that in itself is illegality and we are not surprised because consistently, the Minister has done things in violation of the law ” he added.
