This archive report was first published on 23 October 2019.
On October 23, 2019, Safaricom surprised its subscribers with a significant change to its data bundles: the elimination of expiry dates.
The announcement coincided with Safaricom's 19th birthday and followed a lawsuit filed by lawyer Adrian Kamotho against the company and two others, Airtel and Telkom Kenya, for allegedly depriving consumers of their unused data bundles.
Mr. Kamotho, an ICT practitioner, had filed a complaint with the Communications and Multimedia Appeals Tribunal, citing the high cost of data and the arbitrary expiry of hard-earned bundles as reasons for his action.
He sought an order from the tribunal to require the companies to display their current data tariffs prominently on their websites and to stop depriving consumers of their unused data based on the data expiry model.
Mr. Kamotho also alleged that the companies discriminate against consumers by charging 'out of bundle' rates, which are different from normal bundle rates.
While Safaricom has yet to issue a statement on the lawsuit or the introduction of no-expiry dates on data bundles, the move is seen as a response to the growing concerns of consumers over data pricing and usage.
