Mauritania warns telcos to comply with biometric SIM identification rules

Three mobile network operators in Mauritania have been given two months to fully comply with existing SIM card identification rules in the country or face sanctions.

Industry regulator, the Mauritania Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (ARE), issued the warning recently after an inspection found that Mattel, Mauritel and Chinguitel were not fully compliant with SIM card identification procedures.

After the two-month deadline, teams will be dispatched to verify compliance and impose financial sanctions on defaulters which could amount to between three and five percent of the operators’ annual turnover, Ecofin Agency reports. The sanctions could also involve partial or total suspension of operating licence if the non-compliance persists.

Mauritania mandated SIM identification in 2023 and planned to register at least 6.5 million SIM cards. Since then, it has been tightening the rules as the government says the objective is to curb fraud and ensure compliance with national security regulations.

The rules require anyone buying or registering a SIM card to confirm their identity using biometrics, securely collected and stored by telecoms.

SIM card identification is a growing trend especially in Africa where several countries including Nigeria have been implementing the policy.

Malawi to enforce nationwide SIM registration

Meanwhile, Malawi also announced that it is moving to enforce the policy nationwide. The Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (MACRA) is quoted by ITWeb as saying that a mandatory biometric registration will soon begin across the country.

Going by the plan, all citizens are expected to identify their SIM cards by linking them to their national ID, and to confirm with their face and fingerprint biometrics stored in the database of the National Registration Bureau (NRB).

Malawi started the idea of SIM registration as far back as 2018, as reported then by Nyasa Times.

Last year, the government intended to begin full enforcement, but it was put on hold due to worries raised by some stakeholders. In the meantime, there has been an awareness campaign going on to let citizens get familiar with the new policy and its importance in strengthening national security.

“The initiative is being implemented to ensure that all SIM card holders are the legitimate owners of the National ID cards used during registration,” a spokesperson at MACRA was quote by ITWeb as saying.

Article Topics

Africa  |  biometrics  |  identity verification  |  Malawi  |  Mauritius  |  SIM card registration  |  smartphones  |  telecom