The Communications Minister has warned Electronic Money Issuers (EMIs) and mobile network operators (MNOs), that the upcoming central SIM registration system will give the National Communications Authority (NCA) the power to blacklist fraudsters across all networks.
Samuel Nartey George, speaking on Joy News’ PM Express on Tuesday, April 15, said telcos have failed to act on mobile money fraud complaints despite repeated reports. He accused them of turning a blind eye, even when fraud patterns are obvious.
“That is my problem with the EMIs that we are going to deal with,” the Ningo Prampram MP stated.
“When there is a proven case that a particular number… and again, when you follow, especially those who do the Facebook thing, it is a string of similar numbers that are used.”
According to him, people consistently report these fraudulent numbers to EMIs. Yet, little is done to stop the syndicates.
“Several reports are made to the EMIs and for them to talk to their sister companies, the MNOs, to block those numbers, but they are not doing it,” he said.
But that is about to change, he assured. Under the new registration framework, the Communications Ministry is building a centralised system that will sit directly with the NCA. This, he said, will drastically alter the enforcement landscape.
“That’s the beauty of the registration system we are going to do,” the Minister explained.
“Because the system is going to sit with the NCA. The NCA will have the power to blacklist numbers across networks.”
This means a fraudster blocked on one network will be blocked on all others, ending the common practice of switching networks to evade detection.
Even more significantly, the Minister revealed that telecom operators who fail to act on flagged numbers will face stiff financial penalties.
“If a report is made and we identify that this number is perpetuating fraud, failure to deal with it by the telco, after we have informed you of this, will result in daily pecuniary fines,” he warned.
The move signals a tough new posture from government as mobile money fraud continues to rise despite public education efforts and SIM registration mandates.
The Minister’s comments suggest that the new system will not only centralise fraud detection but also force network operators to take immediate corrective action—or pay the price.
The new framework is expected to roll out in the coming months, with strong emphasis on data integrity, real-time reporting, and NIA-linked identity verification.
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