The re-imposition of fees for transfers between mobile money wallets and bank accounts has been put on hold by the High Court, which also ordered Safaricom and the Central Bank of Kenya to comply.
It was planned for the reintroduction to start in January 2023.
Judge Mugure Thande of the Milimani Law Court handed down the ruling in response to an application made by a man named Moses Wafula.
In March 2020, the transaction fees were eliminated as part of Covid-19’s emergency steps to lower living expenses.
However, CBK stated in a press release on December 6 that the new fees that will go into effect would be less than the fees that were in place prior to the emergency measure.
According to CBK, the average maximum fees for transfers from bank accounts to mobile money wallets will be decreased by 61 percent, and from a mobile money wallet to a bank account would be reduced by 47 percent.
The judgment of Justice Thande will stand until January 23, when it will be brought up for further guidance.
As of right now, she stated that Wafula’s motion responses must be submitted by January 20.
The petition focuses on the field of payment services offered by Safaricom under the Lipa Na M-Pesa pay bill service and addresses the rights of financial consumer.
Safaricom does not have the right to charge the general public for a service that is provided to its contracting service users, including banks, according to Wafula, who claims that M-Pesa pay bill services are an outsourced service to Safaricom.
Wafula further discloses that on July 3, 2021, he sent an application to the Central Bank of Kenya, the CS for Treasury, and the Competition Authority of Kenya, asking for them to be added as respondents in light of their regulatory responsibilities over Safaricom’s M-PESA business.
The alleged application has not yet received a decision, nevertheless. Since May 12 of last year, it has been on hold “due to the transfer of Justice Anthony Mrima.”
The most recent application before the court currently lists the three parties as “intended respondents.” Attorney General and Safaricom are other respondents.
