PRESIDENT John Magufuli has extended the biometric SIM card registration deadline to January 20 next year, stressing that beyond then, unregistered lines would be shut down.
Earlier, the government had set December 31 this year as the deadline for phone users to have biometrically registered their Sim cards but, President Magufuli on Friday gave additional time to those who will fail to complete the process within the given time due to various reasons such as sickness or lack of national identification numbers or cards.
Before Dr Magufuli announced the deadline extension, a spot check by the ‘Daily News’ in various National Identification Authority (NIDA) offices found a good number of people following up their national identification numbers so that they can register their lines.
The Head of State registered his Sim card biometrically on Friday in Chato Town in Geita Region.
He cautioned that all Tanzanians should ensure they register their Sim cards biometrically because there would be no excuse after the deadline expires.
Dr Magufuli extended the deadline from January 1 to 20 next year, directing Tanzania Communication Regulatory Authority (TCRA) to switch off all unregistered lines thereafter.
He explained that biometric Sim cards registration was crucial for the country’s safety and will help in the fight against criminal acts such as conning and theft.
He said despite efforts being undertaken by state organs, including arresting them, some have continued causing inconveniences and loss of properties to people, especially money.
Apart from registering his Sim card, Dr Magufuli also listened to wananchi on their views about the registration exercise.
Before he went to register his line, Dr Magufuli toured Chato Kati Street and consoled the family of Atanasi Masansa Mnaku who died on December 25 this year.
Mid this month, Tanzania Communication Regulatory Authority (TCRA) reported that only 42 per cent SIM cards in operation had been registered.
It revealed that 21.7 million SIM cards were yet to be registered out of over 47 million.
According to the communication watchdog, the number of all 47 million SIM cards in the country accounts for 21.1 million people, while 10.5 million people represent the number of unregistered SIM cards biometrically.
The Director General of TCRA, Eng James Kilaba, further revealed 5.6 million SIM cards were owned by three million people with national identification numbers (NIN) but were still reluctant to register their SIM cards biometrically.
He added that the authority established several guidelines for registering SIM cards biometrically for private individuals, companies or institutions, foreigners and tourists, diplomats and diplomatic institutions.
Plus, SIM cards used by individuals under the age of 12 and 18 years who will have to use their parents or guardians’ national identification authority.
The rest include SIM cards for those without fingers or their finger prints cannot vividly be detected through the biometric registration process.
Where a person’s finger prints are not readable or the person is without fingers, a service provider will have to direct the customer to any nearest NIDA offices for verification.
He noted that NIDA will verify and enable registration by improvising a questionnaire to the customer, and he or she will have to return to the provider for further registration.
On the other hand, out of the seven telecom providers, none is yet to reach 50 per cent registration, therefore, standing a risk of missing transactions with Vodacom Tanzania having the highest number.
The unregistered SIM cards are as follows: Airtel Tanzania (7,185,528), Tigo (6,618,007), Smile (13,333), TTCL (825,406), Viattel (3,012,237), Vodacom (9,154,114) and Zantel (573,891).
