Holders of prepaid mobile phone numbers will get a month’s reprieve to register, under a law passed by the House on Thursday.
The bill was fast-tracked through parliament, as the deadline for registering pay-as-you-go mobile numbers was this coming Monday, November 10.
The deadline has now been shifted to December 10.
MPs who sponsored the bill said it was necessary to prevent the “silencing” of thousands of mobile phones. Anyone not registering their number by the cutoff date would see their phone disconnected.
Of the some 400,000 users of prepaid phones, so far only 48 per cent have registered.
With the previous deadline of November 10 looming, there was a steep rise in registrations – although still the majority have not done so.
Initially the law allowed 12 months to register, but when it was passed parliament had amended it, extending the timeframe to 18 months – to November 10 this year.
Disy MP Demetris Demetriou said the postponement now to December 10 would be the only extension given.
The bill granting the extension passed with 32 votes in favour. Independent MP Alexandra Attalidou voted against.
