Safaricom, Airtel and other telecom operators could be barred from recycling dormant SIM cards after three months under new regulations proposed by the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA).
The rules require telcos to notify subscribers after a SIM card remains inactive for three months and give them an additional three months to reactivate it through activities such as topping up airtime, using data, making calls or sending SMS messages.
Operators will also have to publish lists of numbers facing deactivation 30 days before recycling them and provide a USSD code for customers to check their status.
The proposals follow a High Court ruling that raised concerns over privacy risks linked to recycled phone numbers, including access to mobile banking and online accounts.
The regulations also require operators to delink personal data before reassigning numbers to new users.
