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We won’t extend deadline for SIM card registration, warns CA


The Communications Authority (CA) has asserted that sim cards whose registration details have not been updated will be deregistered on Saturday, October 15, at midnight.

The Assistant Director – of Telecoms Licensing and Compliance at CA Liston Kirui says that deactivated lines can be re-registered. He has however given a disclaimer that re-registering after the deadline lapses will be more tasking.

“After the 15th October deadline, subscribers whose lines will have been deactivated will still have an opportunity to re-register. Of course, they will have more to do after being deactivated,” he said.

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However, the process will have to be longer, compared to what is required to re-register.

“Operators are not going to stop the exercise because of the October 15 deadline. We expect them to continue with the process,” he said.

CA extended the deadline for SIM card registration by six months on April 15. CA says the purpose of updating registration details is to weed out fraudsters from telecommunication companies’ databases.

Safaricom, Airtel Kenya and Telkom had set Saturday, October 15, 2022, as the deadline for SIM card registration.

“So far, Safaricom PLC has reported 67 per cent compliance, Airtel Kenya 55 per cent while Telkom Kenya is at 33 per cent. In order to ensure that operators meet their obligation, the Authority has decided to extend the SIM card registration validation period for a further six (6) months. The new deadline for updating subscriber registration details will be 15th October 2022,” said CA in a statement.

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“During this period, the Authority will undertake monthly reviews to assess progress. At the expiry of the six (6) months, the Authority will further conduct a detailed compliance audit on each of the operators.”

It added that any case of non-compliance with the SIM Card Registration Regulations 2015 by either the operators or subscribers will attract immediate penalties as laid out by law.

Data from CA shows that telecommunication operators have deactivated a total of 411,903 SIM cards since the start of 2022, with 124,689 deactivated between January and March, and 287,214 between April and June.

The regulator warned consumers against blaming the authority for disconnecting their SIM cards after the lapse of the deadline.

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