The commission’s decision follows a series of complaints over the use of unregistered simcards by some unscrupulous people to con people and commit crimes.

In the report released after the kidnap and murder of 28-year-old Susan Magara, it was revealed that 17 simcards were used by kidnappers to make demands from the lady’s family.

Uganda Communications Commission Executive Director Godfrey Mutabazi issued the fresh directives on Thursday against the sale of simcard by telecommunication agents and also ordered for the cancellation of all pre-activated simcards.

He also warned that failure to comply with the latest guidelines will attract a penalty.

“The simcard is becoming a very critical component in people’s lives. Every operator who sells communication equipment must obtain clearance type of approval from UCC. failure to comply with any of the above directive shall attract a penalty in accordance with Uganda Communications Act, 2013,” he said

Last year, Uganda Communication Commission directed all telecommunication service providers to register all simcards using the national ID and about 24 million simcards were registered.

However, the commission’s Manager Consumer Affairs Ibrahim Bbosa acknowledged the presence of loopholes in the system including registration of multiple simcards by one individual.

“We acknowledge that there were loopholes unforeseen in the registration of simcards where people register several simcards under their names but are able to sell them to someone else,” he said.

Telecommunications companies have already circulated notices informing the public about halting the sale of simcards following a directive from Uganda Communications Commission.