NCC Slams MTN With Fine of N1trn Over Pre-registered Sim Cards

Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has reportedly slammed a record N1.04 trillion fine against MTN Nigeria over alleged breach of SIM registration rules. MTN allegedly had pre-registered SIM cards in their systems which make it impossible to verify the personal details of subscribers by utilizing their biometric attributes, thereby compromising national security.

It would be recalled that in September, the NCC also sanctioned four Nigerian leading telecom operators including MTN for having pre-registered SIM cards in their systems. Others were Airtel Nigeria, Globacom Nigeria and Etisalat Nigeria which along with MTN were asked to pay N120.4 million for failing to fully comply with the directive of the Commission to deactivate pre-registered and defective customer SIM cards.

While MTN, which controls over 62 million subscribers on its network, was asked to Pay N102.2 million; Globacom was slammed with N7.4 million; Etisalat N7 million and Airtel N3.8 million. NCC insists that the practice of using biometrics for SIM card verification not only works as a proof of ownership credential, but it also creates a sense of accountability among SIM card owners to not use their mobile phones in any kind of criminal activities.

Credit: Nigeria Communications Week