Mobile phone users who give false information when registering
their Sim cards will be fined Sh100,000 or be jailed for six months in
new regulations to curb phone crimes.
Contravening the
new rules will lead to a fine not exceeding Sh5 million for mobile
phone companies while agents committing offences under the regulations,
will be fined Sh500,000 or a jail term of up to one year.
Persons committing other offences under the regulations will face a fine of Sh300,000.
The new rules are awaiting gazettement before they come into force.
“We
have enhanced the penalties to ensure that everyone, right from the
mobile firms to the agent and the subscriber, is accountable,” Mr
Francis Wangusi, the director-general of the Communications Authority
of Kenya said Tuesday.
The rules are designed to seal
loopholes in the existing law and were endorsed by key players in the
telecommunications sector. They are in line with provisions in the
recently enacted Kenya Information Communication Act, 2013.
Once
they come into force, they will override the January 2013 regulations
which imposed a fine of Sh300,000 or a jail term of three years to
telecom firms failing to comply with the law on registration of Sim
cards.
The regulator has also enhanced rules on
registering Sim cards by minors. For anyone below the age of 18 to get a
mobile telephone line, one has to be accompanied by a legal guardian
and produce a valid birth certificate.
However, their
legal guardians will remain liable for all activities carried out using
the Sim cards. Upon reaching the age of majority, the teenagers will
assume full responsibility for the lines.
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