The Communications Service under the Government of Tajikistan plans to set price for SIM cards for mobile phone at 250.00 somoni (TJS). The Interior ministry has reportedly proposed to introduce fee for SIM cards for security reasons.
Currently, SIM cards for mobile phone cost nothing as subscribers acquire them from cellular companies together with package of services.
An official source at the communications service agency says there is no yet official document on introducing fee for SIM cards.
“The Interior Ministry has proposed to introduce fee for SIM cards in order to enhance responsibility of subscribers for possession of mobile phone number,” the source noted.
“Some subscribers like to frequently change their numbers and high cost for SIM cards will stop them from this. Moreover, SIM cards will stop falling into the wrong hands. If any mobile phone number appears in the Interior Ministry’s database, only the holder of this number will bear responsibility,” the source added.
Representatives of the communications service agency consider that the high cost will also prevent resale of SIM cards, because reregistration of a SIM card to a new owner will also cost 250.00 somoni.
Two cellular companies have confirmed the information about the possibility of introducing fee for SIM cards.
Currently, four cellular companies are the most active in Tajikistan: Babilon-Mobile; Tcell; Megafon-Tajikistan; and Beeline.
6.1 million SIM cards were reportedly reregistered in Tajikistan last year. On average, one cellular company sells up to 300,000 SIM cards per year.
Up to 2016 it was estimated that 70% of active SIM cards had been sold in Tajikistan without producing proper identification. Authorities are worried that unregistered SIM cards are making their way into the hands of terrorists. A campaign to confiscate ‘illegally-sold’ SIM cards was conducted in 2016 and the ban of illegally sold SIM cards is now much stricter enforced.
The government started a second registration or re-registration of all SIM cards in 2016. From November SIM card owners must bring their passport or other official ID documentation and their SIM to one of the cellco’s service centers to register their identity in compliance with the order. All new SIM cards are now legally only given out at the provider stores. This applies to visitors and tourists as well.
Control over the internet tightened in 2016 when laws for blocking of internet and telephone services during so-called 'counterterrorism operations' were introduced. Tajikistan adopted a law prohibiting the use of unidentified SIM cards.
Since 2017, Tajikistan citizens are only allowed to buy up to two SIM cards from one operator. Any additional SIMs per person will be blocked. Parents buying SIMs for their children need to present a birth certificate. In summer 2017 around 20% of all SIM cards in Tajikistan were disconnected, after the users failed to register their personal details.
