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South Africa’s communications regulator, Icasa, has updated its End-User and Subscriber Service Charter, introducing stricter rules on how mobile data, voice, and SMS bundles are sold and billed. These updates were announced in January and will take effect from 2027. The original service charter dates back to 2016, with later updates focused mainly on mobile data. This time, it’s different; it includes rules on voice and SMS billings. 

So, what’s changing? Under these new rules, operators must alert users when they reach 50%, 80%, and 100% of bundle usage. Once a bundle is depleted, services must stop immediately and not be taken from the airtime balance unless the customer has opted into out-of-bundle charges. 

There’s more: Bundles will be consumed in expiry-date order, meaning that if a user has more than one active bundle, operators must deplete the bundle that expires first, not the newer one. Unused bundles longer than seven days must automatically roll over, and customers can transfer bundles freely to others on the same network. Most interestingly, if network outages block data usage, the validity of the bundle must be extended.

Operators pushed back, but did it matter? A report from TechCentral says that mobile operators like Vodacom, MTN, Telkom, and Cell C warned that these regulations seem like regulatory interference and overreach, and risk increasing the cost of bundles. Icasa dismissed them, stating that it had the right to act on matters concerning end users. Pushback noted, rules unchanged.

The African shift in telecom consumer protection: Across Africa, governments and regulators are pushing for real telecom consumer protection. In Nigeria, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) issued several mandates to ensure that telecom operators provide transparent billing and usage updates to consumers, including the 2024 Guidance on the Simplification of Tariffs in the Nigerian Communications Sector. Part of this regulation was to ensure that bundles are depleted in expiry-date order and that operators notify subscribers of any changes to their tariff plans.