Sale and use of SIM Cards to be controlled

Cabinet has agreed to the promulgation of the Information and Communication Technologies (Registration of SIM) Regulations 2021 so as to control the sale and use of the Subscriber Identity Module cards (SIM cards), issued by telephony service providers.

In the Report of the Commission of Inquiry on Drug Trafficking published in July 2018, it has been stated that there were several issues relating to the use of SIM cards such as the purchase of SIM cards through impersonation, usage of these cards to carry illegal activities such as criminal intimidation, extortion, unsolicited calls, and drug trafficking.

Mobile operators would be given a period of three months from the date of coming into operation of the Regulations to set up the required infrastructure and database for the implementation of the Regulations.

The Regulations would be effective as from 01 January 2022.