Telcos, NCA Sued

The Consumer Advocacy Center (CAC) has sued the National Communication Authority (NCA) and all six mobile communication companies in a bid to force the stakeholders in the mobile telephony market conform to the dictates of Legislative Instrument (LI) 2006.

The research group has asked the court to uphold the Ghanaian law on SIM card registration and regulation to avoid the situation of having improperly registered SIM cards in the industry.

According to a statement signed and issued by the Director of Corporate Affairs at the Centre, Benjamin Essuman Wednesday, "Consumers in Ghana are losing millions of Cedis to criminals who have invaded the telephony market via fraudulently acquired SIM cards, which are activated by the network providers to enable the criminals contact and dupe unsuspecting consumers within the market.

"The lives of others are being threatened on a daily basis by criminals with such illegally registered SIM cards without a trace to these criminals," the Centre added.

This follows after the Center in March this year, called on telecommunication operators to respect the laws governing sim card registration in order to safeguard the security and safety of consumers in the Ghanaian telephony market.

Below is the full statement:

NCA, Telcos Sued By Consumer Center

The Consumer Advocacy Center (CAC) Ghana, announces for the information of the general public that we have filed a suit at the High Court of Ghana to protect the Ghanaian consumer of telephone services, by asking the court to uphold the Ghanaian law on SIM card registration and regulation.

The Center has found it necessary to institute this legal step to force the stakeholders in the mobile telephony market to conform to the dictates of LI 2006 and thereby avoid the situation of having improperly registered SIM cards in the industry. The stakeholders we have dragged to the court are the National Communications Authority (NCA), the owners and operators of MTN, Vodafone, Airtel Tigo, and Glo networks.

Consumers in Ghana are losing millions of Cedis to criminals who have invaded the telephony market via fraudulently acquired SIM cards, which are activated by the network providers to enable the criminal's contact and dupe unsuspecting consumers within the market. The lives of others are being threatened on a daily basis by criminals with such illegally registered SIM cards without a trace to these criminals.

It is our considered opinion that these criminal activities are possible as a result of violations and sidestepping brought about by the flagrant disregard for LI 2006. We are thereby praying the court to uphold our Ghanaian law and grant our reliefs that have been carefully plotted to guarantee a safe telephone market for consumers and help businesses.

Please find attached a copy of our writ of summons and reliefs.

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BENJAMIN ESSUMAN

(Dir Corporate Affairs)