The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has approved Online SIM Replacement (OSR) in the new draft of its SIM Replacement Guidelines, this is according to a report via The Vanguard.
The report reveals that Head of Legal Services at the Commission, Akintoye Yetunde stated that the draft rules are aimed at creating and providing a seamless, effective and efficient procedure for SIM replacement in Nigeria. Yetunde added that the intention was to curve incidences of fraudulent replacements.
Yetunde said that the OSR can only be carried out either through the National Service Providers’ (NSPs) website or self-service terminal. NSPs are expected to create platforms on their websites where subscribers can login to carry out SIM Replacement using a unique identification and PIN issued by the NSP. The subscriber would be required to purchase a new SIM, to which the information from the old SIM card would be transferred.
The report reveals further that a replacement SIM must be activated within two hours, said Yetunde, once verification of the subscriber information had been carried out. The regulator warned that the NSPs would be held liable for any SIM replacement carried out in violation of the guidelines or done fraudulently by its agent or dealer. She said NSPs are expected to carry out quarterly audit of SIM replacement transactions carried out by both its staff and agents, and a report forwarded to the Commission.
Darryl Linington
