Communications Minister, Dr. Edward Boamah has announced plans to address SIM-box fraud.

The technology which allows fraudsters to gain financially from international calls to Ghana is said to be denying government millions of revenue.

The issue was first raised by the ranking member on the communication committee of parliament, Kennedy Agyapong.

He wants the National Communications Authority to explain to Parliament why foreign calls appear as though they are local calls. Because it is done fraudulently, one cannot return missed calls, he said.

“This is a serious issue we need to address. People are losing businesses because when you receive a call it appears [with a] Ghana number…sometimes you think it is somebody calling you to ask for [a] favour so you don’t even pick, so you miss an important call.”

But Communication Minister, Dr. Edward Omane Boamah says steps are underway to make the practice disincentive.

He noted that quite a considerable amount of time has been spent on the inter-connect clearing house, a system that will provide a common platform for both local and international calls.

He also mentioned challenges with revenue declaration by the telcos. For instance, the result of a revenue assurance audit by the National Communications Authority on respectable firms “were not good”.

He declared, “all is not well with respect to transparency when it comes to revenue generation in the telecommunications sector”.

 

Listen to audio below on what happened in Parliament