TCRA to block 2 million unverified Sim cards in Tanzania

Dar es Salaam, Tanzania:

Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority (TCRA) on Tuesday, January 3, said there are over two million unverified Subscriber Identification Modules (Sim cards) which could be misused for criminal offences.

The regulator, in collaboration with mobile network operators, are verifying Simcard registration, by ensuring the subscribers’ fingerprints match those in the National Identification Authority (NIDA) database.

Reporting on the verification, TCRA manager for telecom and internet management, Sadath Kalolo said 60,076,000 active Sim cards have been verified, with only 2,061,000 or 4.3 percent remaining.

TCRA has reiterated the call on non-compliant subscribers to verify their Sim card registration by end of January this year. Unverified Sim cards will be blocked after January 31, 2023, it said.

TCRA director general, Jabiri Bakari, announced the verification early last month, explaining that it was designed to protect innocent consumers against online crimes such as fraudulent activities and theft.

“Verification would succeed if all subscribers voluntarily and fully complied”, he added, emphasising that verification would make mobile communications safer for all.

Penalties for unregistered Sim cards are stated in the Electronic and Postal Communications (Sim card registration) Regulations.

Subscribers can verify the status of their Sim cards registration and be updated on those registered against their national identification numbers by dialling *106# on their mobile phones.

“Subscribers who discover any anomalies in their registration are urged to take up matters with the respective mobile service provider,” Dr Bakari said.

He emphasised that, every user of telecommunications services is required to verify his/her active phone number(s) using a citizenship ID or, alternatively, by using a NIDA provided National Identification Number-NIN, which can be obtained from the National Identification Authority-NIDA office.  

The National Identification Authority (Nida) has also very recently introduced an online registration system that will, among other things, allow qualified persons to register for National Identification Cards (IDs) by filling out an online form from wherever they are.

Head of Nida’s Communications Department Geofrey Tengeneza told media last month that the online method is to reduce the hassle for applicants, who until now now have had to congregate at Nida offices to obtain application forms.

He said with the new system, filling out forms and uploading files will be possible from anywhere using a device capable of accessing the Internet, such as a smartphone, (unless of course it has been cut-off by TCRA) via eonline.nida.go.tz.  

The procedure is not actually 100% online because after completing the form, the applicant must print it and send it to the local government where he lives to confirm his residency, and afterwards he then must send the form to the Nida office in the district where he lives with hard copies of the attachments he uploaded to the system to complete the procedure,” Mr Tengeneza explained.

The first batch of national IDs which were issued by the National Identification Authority (NIDA) in 2013 are set to expire from this year also (2023) and are set to cost Sh20,000 for renewal.

So with this added cost and any time delay on the process of obtaining a new or renewed NIDA card, it may mean that millions of unregistered SIM Card users will see their phones barred from January 31st 2023.  

TCRA has identified several reasons for non-compliance with Sim card registration procedures, including criminal intentions.

In early November 2022 TCRA blacklisted and deactivated 52,087 international mobile equipment identities (IMEIs), including those involved in theft and fraudulent activities through mobile phone networks. An IMEI is a unique code used to identify an individual mobile telephone in Global Systems for Mobile (GSM) communication networks.