The directive by the National Communications Authority (NCA) on the deactivation of yet to be registered SIM cards from today, September 5, 2022 have been greeted with mixed reactions from a cross-section of mobile phone subscribers.

While some have welcomed the news and described it as a 'necessary evil' to compel people to register, others consider it as unfair treatment by the authority and want some time to register.

Those against it claim government is contradicting its earlier position with this directive.

Lebene, a student of the University of Ghana, told Joy Business that government directive to block SIM cards is not right.

“Honestly, I think It’s not a good directive to block SIM cards like that because they [subscribers] actually thought the deadline is 30^th September [2022] – the ending of September, so why should they do that”.

She pointed out that some people will continue to register until the 30^th September which was the initial deadline.

“I don’t think is the right thing; they [NCA] should wait until 30^th September [2022] is passed”, he added.

Flora of Cape Coast agreed with Lebene, saying “in my opinion, it’s not a good initiative for the National Communications Authority to block SIM cards of people who are yet to register”.

“People are still queuing and some have to spend virtually the whole day to get their SIM cards registered. It is unfair”.

On his part, Fuad from Madina, however, welcomed the directive, saying, it’s a step in the right direction.

“The directive by the NCA is a step in the right direction. Although it's harsh, I believe it’s a step in the right direction because it would force Ghanaians who have not registered to do so. It's a necessary evil”.

NCA rolls out some punitive actions against subscribers

The NCA yesterday announced its decision to roll out some punitive actions against users who have not registered their SIM Cards.

This new move is expected to take effect from Monday, September 5, 2022.

According to a statement signed by the Authority’s Director-General, outgoing calls and data services for a sequential batch of numbers will be blocked for 2 days weekly on a rotational basis.