Given the fact that UCC managed to review the deadline of the new re-verification exercise to 15th May 2019 instead of the Genesis moment of 1st May 2019, Subscribers seem to have not considered the new re-verification exercise as serious as the initial exercise 2 years ago provoking a revision by the commission.

For SIMCARD holders who have never received notifications to reverify their identity at the nearest service center, UCC’s new guidelines shine a globe of light of who qualifies to double check the information shared. Nonetheless, here is what UCC shared about the extended SIMCARD verification exercise.

The New UCC SIMCARD Verification Guidelines

1. A customer who registered using their NIN and Name – there is no action required. You will not be affected by the upcoming deactivation. Note, no action is required.
2. A customer with more than one number of a particular network and has carried out biometric verification on any of these numbers (MSISDN) on the same network dating between May 2018 to date, No further action is required.
3. A customer who used another person’s Name and NIN, please go to the nearest service center with your valid National ID and register afresh.
4. If a customer used their name but another person’s NIN to register, please go to the nearest service center with your valid National ID and register afresh.
5. If your Mobile Money is registered under a different name from your SIM registration, please go to the nearest service center with your valid National ID and edit your details.
6. When you dial *197# and follow the prompts and find that there are numbers registered under your NIN that are not yours, please remove them immediately.
7. If you registered your child’s phone number under their name but using your NIN (the Parent), the name should also have been the parents as well. Therefore please visit the nearest service center and edit the details as they appear on the National ID’s holder.
8. If you lost your National ID, NIRA issues confirmation letters attesting to your citizenship and that your registration information exists in the NIRA database. The NIRA letter can be presented to your telecom operator to secure a SIM replacement within 72hrs, given that your name and NIN were previously captured correctly by the operator.
9. SIM card purchased, upgraded, Swapped and or replaced between May 2018 to date will not be affected by the 1^st May 2019 deactivation.
10. If and when your SIM card is deactivated, you have the opportunity to reactivate the same by presenting a valid National ID for a fresh SIM Card registration.

Editor’s Note: SIMCARD Guidelines Sourced From the UCC official blog

Well, the SIM card registration resurrected last week and UCC now requires selected subscribers to reverify their SIMcards. For instance, If you receive a message like “Y’ello, You have more than one number registered under your NIN. Please visit any Airtel Shop with your National ID to confirm them”  from your telco, then you’re one of the subscribers who will face a tough penalty once the registered sim cards are not re-verified

The UCC penalty and who qualifies to reverify

UCC previously inked a revocation policy of all SIM services during the previous SIMcard registration exercise, the move garnered high traffic at registration points and everyone had their SIM card registered before the due date. But if you registered more than 1 card with your national ID number or a names mismatch on your with ur card, then you must reverify ownership of them all.

Unverifie SIMcards that got a notification message to review active lines on one NIN are required to visit a service center or else all the lines will be blocked from accessing any telco services

During a TV interview with the commission’s spokesperson, Ibrahim Bbosa. The Uganda communications act was referred to with section 56 providing 2 instances in which a user can be denied access to services, as refusal to reverify your SIMcard violates the section provoking a penalty in return.

“The Uganda Communications Acts under Section 56 provides two instances when you can be denied service: one is for non-payment of bills and the other is for a just cause. So, if after repeated requests for you to come and verify, to update your sim card registration, especially we also have people who sent in NINs before April 2018 and never update this through biometrics, those people are also required to come and update with the biometrics.” – Ibrahim Bbosa, UCC SpokesPerson

However, as the new UCC re-verification policy doesn’t affect each and every SIM card holder in Uganda, only notified multiple SIM card owners will be denied access to telecom services by their providers. So, this means only a minority of subscribers will face the penalties due to multiple SIM ownerships which are turning out to be fraud pots in Uganda.