Dausi says Malawi starts mandatory SIM card registration
The mandatory registration of SIM cards countrywide is in operation effective June 1 2017, Minister of Information, Communication and ICT Nicholous Dausi has said.
SIM is an abbreviation for Subscriber Identity Module. A SIM card is a valuable memory card, which stores all the information on phone, like pictures, videos, and music and contact numbers.
Dausi said SIM cards are not supposed to be sold anyhow as users need to register them with the service providers.
“Everybody who would like to have a telephone number must register with service providers, failing which, one will not be allowed to have a local SIM card,” said Dausi, citing the Communications Act.
Dausi said the registration of SIM cards will among others, expose people who have the tendency to threaten and insult other through mobile phones.
He said Malawi was the only country in southern African region where SIM crads were not registered.
Dausi said said SIM card registration will reduce incidents of fraud and crime as well as documenting the total subscriber base.
In the Communications Act, Malawi Regulatory Authority (Macra) has SIM card registration statutory mandate.
