CA targets mobile phone fraudsters with cap on SIM card ownership

Ownership of mobile phone SIM cards will soon be restricted to not more than 10 if new regulations governing possession of wireless telecoms lines come into force.

The Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) yesterday said it was working on fresh rules that will limit individual subscribers to owning a maximum of 10 active SIM cards as part of the drive to curb mobile phone crimes.

“We are working on regulations that will outlaw the sale of more than 10 SIM cards to an individual because it is not possible for one person to efficiently use those many lines,” the CA director-general, Francis Wangusi, said, adding that the new regulations will not affect businesses or companies.

But even before the new regulations come into force, the CA said it had written to the three mobile network operators (MNOs), Safaricom, Airtel and Orange to furnish it with the identities of persons with more than 10 SIM cards on their networks for scrutiny.

This is the latest attempt by the regulator to clamp down on fraudsters using mobile phones to rob victims of money, extort or even kidnap people for payment of ransoms.

The CA argues that the failure to limit the number of SIM cards that can be sold to an individual has made it impossible for the operators to monitor use of mobile phones or to clamp down on criminals.

The CA’s move follows last week’s seizure of 5,827 SIM cards at an upmarket Nairobi apartment that were being used to operate an unlicensed international calls bureau.

READ: Regulator raids illegal Lavington-based international calls bureau

It also follows an earlier directive by the CA that the three mobile telecom firms ensure that subscribers’ details match what is in the Integrated Population Registration System (IPS).

No limit to sale

Stephen Chege, the director of corporate affairs at Safaricom, said the law in its current state does not limit the number of lines a mobile phone operator can sell to a subscriber.

“There is no law that limits the number of SIM cards that an individual can own as long they are appropriately registered,” Mr Chege said, adding that Safaricom has established systems to identify subscribers with multiple SIMs.

“We find that most of these users are family members (who register SIM cards in their names on behalf of children or relatives aged below 18), business owners or owners of multiple devices. In all these cases, Safaricom has the relevant details of the primary SIM owner in accordance with the law.” 

Mobile network operators reckon that individual subscribers with multiple SIM cards are identifiable using their ID numbers.

Most multiple SIM car owners have registered them on behalf of minors who do not have the right identification documents to own the lines in their names. Subscribers may also be having multiple devices, including handsets, modems, tablets, car tracking gadgets, Mkopa solar lamps or GSM-enabled security alarm devices.  

Kenya’s second-largest telecoms operator Airtel said it had not received any communication from the regulator regarding multiple ownership of SIM cards.

“Airtel is yet to receive official communication from the regulator regarding this move. We are ready to comply and will furnish it with such information within the regulations governing the sector if so requested,” Airtel Kenya chief executive Adil El Youssefi said.       

Under the Kenya Information and Communication Regulations 2014, mobile phone operators found in breach of the SIM card rules are liable to a fine not exceeding Sh5 million while agents can be asked to pay a fine of not more than Sh500,000 or serve a jail term not exceeding one year or both.

Subscriber verification

Safaricom has previously said it was in the process of verifying details of some SIM cards on its network through the IPRS. Safaricom, which is Kenya’s largest phone operator, has 23.3 million prepaid subscribers, according to industry statistics for the year ended June 2015.

The operator has previously said that more than 23 million of its customers are fully registered, leaving about 300,000 at risk of deactivation.

Airtel has 6.8 million subscribers, while Telkom Kenya, which trades as Orange, has four million subscribers all of whom are said to have been properly registered.

The law also prescribes tough penalties for false registration of SIM cards, with such subscribers liable to a fine not exceeding Sh100,000 or a jail term of not more than six months or both.

The rules also bar mobile telecom firms from selling pre-activated SIM cards to their subscribers.

Guardians registering SIM cards on behalf of minors are required to produce birth certificates instead of student identity cards from an accredited educational institution or letters from chiefs.

Mobile subscribers are also liable for any crimes linked to a SIM card registered in their name if they cannot prove that they were not in control of the medium when the criminal activities were carried out.

Dealers who pre-activate SIM cards and load them with airtime to lure new subscribers have also been put on notice.

“A licensee shall not sell or market pre-activated subscription mediums to new subscribers with effect from the date of commencement of these regulations,” say the SIM card regulations.