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The Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) has issued new guidelines to address the challenges faced by operators and customers during the replacement of SIM cards for those who have lost their National Identity cards, as well as for the registration and replacement of SIM cards for customers without biometrics.
According to the guidelines issued on December 9, if you lose your National ID, you should report the SIM card loss to the nearest police station and provide the telecom service provider with a letter from Uganda Police confirming the loss.
Following this, present a letter from the police confirming the loss of your National ID to the National Identification and Registration Authority (NIRA).
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You will then receive a letter from NIRA, confirming your registration on the national register, which must be addressed directly to the concerned telecom operator.
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The UCC stipulates that the customer must physically appear at the telecom operator’s service centre or an authorised agent shop for physical identification.
According to the UCC, this guidance applies to customers who are swapping, editing, or replacing a SIM card. "It does not apply to customers registering a new SIM card without presenting a valid National ID," the guidelines state.
Replacement, swapping, editing or upgrade of SIM cards
A SIM card replacement, edit, swap or upgrade shall be done at customer service centers operated by telecom operators.
An applicant for replacement, edit, swap or upgrade of a SIM card shall physically appear at the telecom operators’ customer service center or at the designed agent’s shop.
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SIM card replaced, swapped or upgraded shall be issued in the names of the person in whose name the SIM card was registered at the time of the loss or damage.
When a customer has no thumbprint or biometrics
Where the person claiming not to have biometrics obtained a National ID, asylum seeker’s card or refugee card, which clearly indicate that he or she does not have biometrics, such a person should present to the telecom operator’s customer service centre his or her original National ID, asylum seekers card or refugee card.
When your fingerprints have faded or become ineligible over time
For customers whose fingerprints faded or became ineligible after the issuance of their National ID, asylum seeker card or refugee card, obtain a validation letter from NIRA for Ugandan nationals, or from the Office of the Prime Minister, for holders of asylum seeker cards or refugee cards.
The validation letter from NIRA or OPM shall be addressed to UCC and should clearly state the customer’s particulars and confirm that he or she appears on the National register or in the OPM database, but the customer’s biometrics are no longer readable.
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UCC will verify the letter’s authenticity and authorize the telecom operator to register a Sim Card for the subject customer.