19 July 2019

Zambia will implement biometric SIM card registration in January 2020 to combat ongoing fraud.

A meeting was held between regulator the Zambia Information and Communications Technology Authority (ZICTA) and mobile network operators May 21st, in which the directives were explained and agreed upon.

Edward Mulenga, corporate communications manager at ZICTA, said all MNOs would be required to comply with the biometric standards, conduct regular interval verification exercises to ensure accuracy of SIM databases and furnish the authority with a report of all deregistered SIM cards.

He added that MNOs are required to relay to ZICTA the total number of subscribers with more than 10 registered MSISDNs under the same identity card. 

“The authority will place obligations on the seller of SIM cards including use of identity cards for ease of identification,” Mulenga said. “Failure to adhere to the directive will attract punitive measures within the law. MNOs should also send an updated dealers’ register to the authority and a report on the agents responsible for any inaccurate registrations and any fraudulent activities.” 

There had been no response from MNOs regarding the latest directives or how much it would cost to comply when Southern African Wireless Communications went to press.

The minister of communications and transport Brian Mushimba had previously raised concerns over the loss of public confidence in the local mobile money market and the issue of unsolicited, unauthorised access to funds within subscriber mobile money accounts.