The government through the Kenya Information and Communications amendment bill 2023 moved to abolish a law prohibiting the hawking or registration of SIM cards by agents.
Section 27B of the 1998 Kenya Information and Communications Act (KICA) prohibited the hawking of SIM cards fining those who went against the rule up to Ksh500,000 or a jail term.
It provided that agents attached to different telecommunication providers sell and register the SIM cards through formal retail shops.
“A registration agent shall not hawk SIM cards and shall ensure that they are sold and registered in a formal retail outlet.
“A person who contravenes this section commits an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding five hundred thousand shillings or imprisonment for a term not exceeding twelve months, or both,” the Act read s in part.
However, in the new amendment bill, the section on the fines was scraped and agents are allowed to register and sell SIM cards.
This allows for the selling and registration of SIM cards from anywhere provided the number is registered with the providers.
“By deleting the subsection (3) and substituting therefore with the following new subsection a registration agent shall duly register subscriber number being sold,” the amendment Bill reads in part.
At the same time, the bill still requires those hawking SIM cards to keep a record of all registrations and the telecommunications operator is expected to provide the information when required.
“A telecommunications operator shall keep a record of its registration agents and such record shall be made available to the Authority at such time and in such manner as may be prescribed,” the bill states.
In addition, the Act states that SIM owners are liable for the activities or transactions carried out using the card in their name unless they can prove that they were not in control of the SIM card when the particular activity was carried out.
In March 2022, the Communication Authority of Kenya (CA) noted that a number of Kenyans had not been registered with their official details and obtained their sim cards from unlicensed agents and hawkers.
The authority directed all telecommunication companies to register users following the laid down procedures.
"The SIM card regulations 2015 now stipulate that the mobile operators should re-register their subscribers by updating their details with a digital passport-size photo of the customers," CAK noted.
