The Uganda Communication Commission (UCC) says a total of 1.4 million SIM cards have so far been disconnected in an ongoing crackdown on improperly registered lines.

Rebbeca Mukite, the UCC head of Public and International Relations, however, said Saturday that they expect the number of disconnected lines to drop because more people are coming out to comply with the directive to regularise their registration.

She made the revelation while appearing at a local radio talk show in Kampala.

"We now need to take this regularisation a notch higher by using *197# mechanism on our phones. Please choose option two to find out the number of SIM cards that are registered in your name.

"That is the best way we are going to weed out the bafere (telephone con-people), "she said.

She said that people whom she described as crooks are currently using SIM cards retrieved from stolen or misplaced phones to orchestrate a series of frauds on the public.

"Some people have not bothered to remove them (SIM cards) from their profiles. Because of that, those SIM cards are floating out there which have your name and biometrics. If they are used to perpetrate crimes it means you become liable. So please find out the numbers that are registered in your NINs."

She added that for people who choose to register a number for another person, an effort must be made to ensure that that person is of sound legal standing.

UCC started a mass disconnection of SIM cards on November 12, 2023.

This initiative is in strict compliance with the regulations outlined in the Interception of Communications Act.

SIM card regularisation requires registered owners to physically visit their respective telecom providers with their original national identity cards for a thorough screening and verification process.

According to data from the UCC, Uganda has more than 30 million registered SIM cards, but approximately 2 per cent of them are classified as non-regularized.

The regularisation process aligns with Section 9 of the Regulations of the Interception of Communications Act, which mandates telecommunication service providers to collect comprehensive customer information, including personal and business details, before offering services to individuals or entities, and to maintain records.

These regulations also require that each active SIM card must be associated with a National Identification Card, with a limit of no more than 10 SIM cards from the same telecom company per cardholder.