The Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority (TCRA) has announced that it will switch three million sim cards off and disconnect 15 million more by the end of January as their owners are yet to register them via the biometric system.
The regulator reiterated it will also take to task, those who will use their National Identification Numbers (NINs) to register Sim cards for other people.
The government had scheduled registration of Sim cards last year, starting on May 1, 2019 with a deadline of December 31, 2019. However, on December 27, 2019, President John Magufuli extended the deadline by 20 days.
TCRA’s statistics shows that there are more than 48.8 million active Sim cards in the country but by January 19, 2020 only a total of 28.4 million sim cards had been registered using the new system.
The TCRA then announced that it would switch the Sim cards off in phases.