In Tajikistan, more than 800,000 subscribers who failed to re-register their SIM cards may be disconnected from mobile phone service.
The large-scale SIM card re-registration campaign in Tajikistan has been ongoing for more than six years, since 2016. However, some still need to complete the re-registration and risk losing their mobile phone service after February 15. Authorities say this measure will help prevent the illegal use of telecommunications, including for terrorist purposes.
According to the Communications Service, 5.56 million mobile phone subscribers had re-registered their SIM cards by January 2023. Another 2 million SIM cards are left without re-registration, and only 882,000 among them are active.
In December 2015, the government of Tajikistan amended the Law on Electric Communication, which specified that mobile operators had to re-register users’ SIM cards.
Previously, SIM cards in Tajikistan had been sold without a passport or even handed out for free.
In April 2016, a government decree was issued requiring the telecoms service to re-register all SIM cards by 15 February 2023 and to ensure that no more than two SIM numbers of any telecoms operator are registered in one person’s name.
In April 2016, a government decree was issued requiring the telecoms service to re-register all SIM cards by 15 February 2023 and to ensure that no more than two numbers of any telecoms operator are registered in one person’s name.
But the reregistration can only be done using the new ID passports, which contain the biometric data of the holder. Owners of old-generation passports cannot, therefore, re-register SIM cards.
In addition, since 2016, Tajikistan has banned free sales of SIM cards on the streets and required retail outlets to obtain a special licence.
Authorities say the re-registration of SIM cards is necessary to “fight terrorism”.
Speaking to parliament in December 2015, Mansurjon Umarov, first deputy head of Tajikistan’s State Committee for National Security, stated that in recent years more than 70 per cent of active SIM cards had been sold in the country without providing any documentation.
He noted that the SIM cards of Tajik mobile service providers are freely sold in northern Afghanistan, and terminals have been accepting payments for Tajikistan’s mobile operators.
“There is information that insurgents of the Afghan Taliban (banned in Tajikistan and designated as a terrorist organisation) on the border with our country are actively using Tajik SIM cards,” Umarov said.
Umarov did not explain how this could affect the threat of terrorism in Tajikistan.
The economist, who asked not to reveal his true identity, believes that the main driver behind the government’s decision was to increase the budget by speeding up the process of obtaining the 2014 generation of ID passports.
According to media reports, the passport form would cost 10 US dollars. In addition, at least another five dollars must be paid for a dactyloscopy, certificate of residence, blood group, etc.
He said the authorities have long considered that citizens are spending excessively on mobile communications. President Emomali Rahmon has been stating this since 2010.
In a 2021 president’s message to parliament, Rakhmon said, “Over the last 10 years, people have spent 30 billion TJS (about US $3 billion) on mobile phone services”.
According to the media, Rahmon made a personal comment on these numbers in the message.
“This is not a small amount. For this sum we could have completed construction of the Rogun hydropower plant,” he said.
The president noted that the country’s population pays 3 billion somonis (about $300 million) annually to mobile operators, 90% of which are owned by foreign companies.
“We need to reconsider the culture of using mobile phones. We shouldn’t be happy about it, in the future we may face serious problems, various diseases, including brain cancer,” he said.
The economist also recalled the government’s plan to raise the cost of SIM cards to 100 US dollars
This happened just in the midst of the re-registration of SIM cards and obtaining ID passports in the summer of 2018. As it turned out, the Interior Ministry initially suggested operators sell SIM cards for 1,000 somoni, which was $94.2 at the then exchange rate. But eventually, the price was reduced to 250 somonis (about $25).
However, this price seemed excessive too. The topic was widely discussed for several months, both in the press and on social media. People were confused about how an increase in the cost of a SIM card could guarantee the country’s security and prevent terrorist attacks. The authorities explained that such an expensive SIM card was unlikely to be given to another person and did not comment further on the decision.
As a consequence, following criticism in the press and on social media, the authorities suspended and then annulled the decision to sell SIM cards at such an inflated price.
According to the economist, if the authorities were seriously concerned about security, they would have allowed re-registration with the old passports as well.
Now it is only possible to re-register a SIM card using a new biometric domestic ID card. In this way, the authorities have decided to “kill two birds”. In an interview with CABAR.asia, Gafur Irkaev, head of Tajikistan’s Association of Mobile Operators, said the measure would make it possible to have more complete data on every person in the country and react more quickly in case of a crime or any emergency.
“But there is also another issue – the culture of timely renewal of passports or any other documents is lacking in the mentality of the majority of the country’s population. And this attachment to the re-registration of SIM cards has forced more than half of the population to go and get these ID passports,” he explains.
But still, in his opinion, there is a segment of the population that cannot afford to obtain new passports, they live below the poverty line and for them, these costs are way too heavy. Besides, many of them live in remote and inaccessible areas of Tajikistan, and it takes money, transport and time to get to the centre. Sometimes these trips can take a whole day.
According to the latest data, the poverty rate in Tajikistan is 22.5%, which is about 2.5 million people. About half of these people live in extreme poverty.
To get an ID card, you need a taxpayer identification number, a blood group test, as well as paying a state fee of 100 somonis (10 USD) and obtaining a residence permit – its all costs money.
“It is a huge burden to bear for low-income people, as their income can be less than a dollar a day. It is also quite possible that some of them have no registration at all because they have no accommodation. And since they have no residence registration, they are not able to obtain a new passport”, notes Irkaev.
It is, therefore, possible, the expert suggests, that half of these 882,000 active SIM cards that have not been re-registered are in the hands of the poor, who may soon be left without communication.
Yes, the operators have this authority. Article 18 of the law “On Electric Communication” states that operators and providers may “suspend services to users in case they violate the established rules for the use of electric communication”. And re-registration is just that rule and if a subscriber fails to comply with it, he or she will be left without a connection.
The requirement to have only two SIM cards in one’s name was adopted in 2019. Tajik law enforcement authorities explain this for national security reasons as well. There is an administrative penalty in the form of a fine for violators.
And if a SIM card registered in your name falls into the hands of a criminal, terrorist or extremist, you could face two to three years’ imprisonment – Criminal Code Article 341(1).
Such strict measures, according to Gafur Irkayev, are justified for security reasons but can cause many inconveniences.
“For example, in order to provide children with communications, parents, in any case, need to register SIM cards of their underage children in their own names. And it turns out that if there is more than one child, the parent has broken the law and can be fined,” he says.