Register a SIM card and deal with lines in your name
Communications Authority of Kenya · sources read 1 Oct 2026
Register your SIM with your mobile operator or its registration agent, and bring your original ID (Kenyans 18 and over can use any government-issued ID). If a line in your name was registered with false details, ask the Communications Authority to deactivate it using Form 2; it investigates within 30 days.
- Fee
- We couldn't confirm a fee from the official page. Check it there before you pay.
- How long
- The Communications Authority investigates a false-registration complaint within 30 days
- Where
- At your mobile operator's shop or registration agent; complaints about false registration go to the Communications Authority (CA Centre, Waiyaki Way, Nairobi, or chukuahatua@ca.go.ke)
What you need
- Kenyans 18+: your original national ID or another government-issued ID
- For a child: the child's birth certificate and the parent's or guardian's ID
- KDF members: your original Service Card
- Companies: the certificate of incorporation
Steps
- Go to your mobile operator's shop or registration agent with your original ID. They fill in the registration form and may ask you to be there in person.
- The operator checks your ID against the government database before the line is registered.
- If a line registered in your name is not one you use, ask the operator to deactivate it. They must do so when you ask.
- If someone registered a line using false details, complain to the Communications Authority on Form 2 (in the 2025 SIM registration regulations) and ask it to deactivate the line. The consumer complaints email is chukuahatua@ca.go.ke.
- If your details change, tell your operator within 30 days.
Watch out
- Nobody may register a SIM for someone else, except a parent or guardian for a child. Don't let anyone register a line with your ID.
- A SIM registered for a child must be moved to the young person's own ID within 90 days of turning 18, or it gets suspended.
- If your operator sends a notice to suspend your line, you have 14 days to fix your registration.
Who can apply
- Kenyan citizens aged 18 and over, using any recognised government-issued ID.
- Children: a parent or guardian registers the SIM in their own name until the child turns 18.
- Foreigners, with a valid passport or Foreign National Registration Certificate.
- Refugees, with a valid Refugee Identity Card.
Official sources (2)
- The Kenya Information and Communications (Registration of Telecommunications Service Subscribers) Regulations, 2025 (Legal Notice No. 90 of 2025) ca.go.ke · read 1 Oct 2026
- Consumer Feedback ca.go.ke · read 1 Oct 2026