UCC has temporarily suspended the sale and sim card registration to all corporate bodies.
Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) has temporarily suspended the sale and sim card registration to all corporate bodies including companies, NGOs and public institutions pending investigations.
This comes following recent allegations of fraud in sim card registration and other complaints alleging failure to adhere to the set SIM card registration procedures more so among the corporate bodies.
About a letter issued last week, the UCC Ag. Executive Director Irene Kaggwa Sewankambo ordered all operators “to immediately suspend the sale of SIM cards to companies, Non-Governmental Organisations, Ministries, Departments and Agencies of Government and any other unnatural persons.”
The suspension is to help avert the risk of further breach of the law pending the conclusion of the ongoing investigations, as Ms Kaggwa Sewankambo pinpointed in the letter.
According to Ms Sewankambo, UCC has recently received complaints alleging failure and/or refusal by operators to adhere to the set SIM card registration processes, especially in respect of SIM cards sold to corporate customers.
Under the set guidelines, corporate bodies can have unlimited SIM cards registered in their name as long as the accounting officer has furnished the provider with relevant documents, including articles and memorandum of association.
However, it is alleged that unscrupulous individuals have taken advantage of this loophole to submit fake company documents to providers based on which they get multiple SIM cards registered.
In her letter to the operators, invoking sections 5(1)(b)(j) and 45 of the Uganda Communications Act 2013, the UCC Executive Director asked them to co-operate in the investigation by providing relevant information.
The suspension of SIM card registration for corporate entities is to remain in place until the process of registration of SIM cards by companies and other corporate entities has been streamlined to plug gaps exploited by fraudsters.
However, SIM card registration for individual customers is not affected by this regulatory action. Members of the public are advised to purchase SIM cards from authorised agents in person and provide an original National IDs, and fingerprint information (Biometrics).
Meanwhile, UCC has embarked on plans to pursue a policy to regulate and support online business. The Commission is examining Information and Technological-ICT structures under the Northern Corridor Integration Project to come up with a policy to facilitate and regulate online businesses.
Speaking during an online discussion organized by Uganda National Bureau of Standards -UNBS under the theme “Ensuring Quality of products and services in e-commerce, Henry Mugabi, the Assistant Technical Officer in Uganda Communications Commission, said the framework will act as standard procedure for all other member states.
Mr Mugabi said that a lot is being done on the side of the UCC and ICT Ministry to study what would be required to regulate and facilitate e-commerce.
“We have an ICT structure chaired by Uganda. It is being chaired by Charles Auk, the Assistant Commissioner for Telecommunications and Posts in the Ministry of Information and national guidance,” Mugabi said.
