This is because of the backlog of unprinted cards, uncollected cards and multi-applications, required for the re-registration.

The Head of Administration and Human Resources at the NIA, Cecilia Erzuah, made the call on Accra based Citi FM, monitored by the Ghanaian Times, on Wednesday.

Ms Erzuah said the March 31, 2022, deadline for the exercise was not feasible due to the volume of work at the NIA to ensure that applicants get their Ghana Cards, which is a prerequisite for the SIM card registration exercise.

She said “Many people haven’t received their cards. There are people who did double and triple registrations and the system has arrested their cards.

“All these cards need to be released, and we need to work on them at the backend, otherwise, all these people will lose their SIM”.

The SIM card re-registration using the Ghana Card has been scheduled to end by March 31, 2022.

This has occasioned long queues and frustrations at registration centres across the country, with mobile network operators indicating their challenges with managing the situation due to the number of people thronging their offices to complete the process.

The National Communication Authority has received calls for extension of the SIM registration deadline amid complaints from Ghanaians.

However,  telecommunication companies have in the interim put in place measures to decentralise the registration process, by creating out-of-office registration centres in various communities, outreach registration exercises in churches, mosques and organised workplaces.