Fine telcos for unregistered Sim cards, lawmakers urge

Dodoma. Lawmakers want telecommunication companies to be taken to task for allowing subscribers to use unregistered sim cards instead of punishing customers - arguing that the latter have little knowledge on the matter.
The proposed amendment of the Electronic and Postal Communications Act demand a Sh5 million fine or 12-month imprisonment for using an unregistered sim card, but the government considered to lower the fine to Sh3 million and six-month imprisonment as per the Parliamentary Constitution and Legal Affairs Committee recommendations.
However, the Members of Parliament (MPs) said the telcos should be fined for allowing their customers to use unregistered sim cards. The lawmakers also said the Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority (TCRA) should be given power to switch-off all unregistered sim cards.
“TCRA should be given power to switch-off unregistered  sim cards instead of punishing people, most of whom have not yet obtained their national identification cards under the National Identification Authority (Nida),” said Ms Asha Juma who presented the committee opinion.
“This will at least align to the reality. Most of these people live in rural areas,” she added.
The opposition also voiced similar concerns saying the telecommunication companies were the ones registering the sim cards, thus they should help their subscribers adhere to all the legal requirements, adding that the telcos also have the technical capacity to switch off a sim card that is not registered.
“It is the responsibility of the telecommunication companies and their agents to ensure that unregistered sim cards are not working. If an unregistered sim card is in use, it’s their fault and they should carry the burden instead of punishing users,” argued opposition spokesperson on Constitution and Legal Affairs, Ms Lathifah Chande.
MPs, who contributed to the debate of the Written Laws (Miscellaneous Amendment) No.5 Act 2019, which was passed yesterday, discussed the sim card issues among others.
They supported biometric registration to control misuse of the sim cards but emphasised telcos should be responsible.
“Under what circumstances can someone obtain an unregistered sim card without authorisation of the telecom operators? I think we should have a clause to punish them in such cases,” said Ms Salome Makamba (Special Seats-Chadema).
Prof Jumanne Maghembe (Mwanga-CCM) said the telecom companies should not only be responsible for sim card registration but also hacking of the lines.
“One time some criminals hacked the phone of a CCM leader and started issuing fake directives to his people. We need to find a way of controlling this,” he said.
“I’ve noticed that these companies are also stealing a lot from our airtime. I’m saying this loudly so that they will hear it,” said he.
However, Attorney General Prof Adelardus Kilangi said the fine to consumers was there to ensure individual responsibility in Sim card registering.
“We put the punishment to make people responsible of their Sim cards so that they always ensure it’s registered,” he said.