The Ghana Camber of Telecommunications (GCT) is warning SIM registration agents who are charging customers to desist from the practice or risk facing the law.
The warning comes on the back of information reaching the Chamber indicating that upon all its efforts to make the public understand that the exercise it “ABSOLUTELY FREE” some agents keep charging customers for it.
In a statement, the Chamber said “It has come to our attention that SOME SIM Registration agents of Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) currently registering subscribers are charging some subscribers for the registration of their SIMs.
“The Ghana Chamber of Telecommunications on behalf of its members – AirtelTigo, MTN and Vodafone – wishes to notify its esteemed customers and the general public that the ongoing SIM registration exercise is absolutely FREE and subscribers are not supposed to pay any agent any fee.”
According to the statement, SIM registration is a national exercise which is being funded by government and the mobile network operators, adding that it is therefore “illegal” and “fraudulent” for anybody to ask any customer to pay any amount as the cost of registration.
“We are by this statement, cautioning individuals perpetuating this illegal and fraudulent act to desist from it. We also implore the general public to desist from paying or offering payments to the agents,” it said.
The Chamber therefore urged subscribers who are asked to pay or charged for registration to report the incidences to the nearest police station or to their service providers.
It assured the public of the MNOs’ commitment to full transparency and accountability to both the Government of Ghana and its customers, and asked for the support and understanding of its customers to make the exercise a success.
