The National Communications Authority (NCA) has disclosed that the GH¢5 charge on the self-service SIM registration application will go to the app developer.

Speaking on Citi News, the Deputy Corporate Affairs Director at the NCA, Kwame Gyan, while failing to give specifics, said “the money goes to the app developers; those who built and are maintaining the app.”

“It doesn’t go to the NCA,” Mr. Gyan added.

The government announced that the self-service registration application, which will be made available on both Android and IOS platforms, will be rolled out from today.

This was in addition to an extension of the deadline for SIM cards to be re-registered with the Ghana Card.

The GH¢5 charge has been criticised by some and described as a disincentive.

The Mobile Money Agents Association complained that this could be an issue for persons who own multiple SIM cards.

The government had initially set July 31 as the deadline for all persons to re-register their SIM cards with their Ghana Cards.

Persons who fail to comply with the directive would have their SIM cards deactivated.

The regulations are to help law enforcement agencies to identify SIM card owners, track criminals who use phones for illegal activities, curb phone theft, hate text messaging, mobile fraud activities, and SIM Box fraud.

Statistics from the National Communication Authority (NCA) show that as of Thursday, July 21, 2022, 16,969,034 individuals had registered for the Ghana Card, with about 16,535,623 cards printed, while 15,395,607 had linked their Ghana Card to their SIM cards.