Some Safaricom clients are unhappy about the telco’s Okoa Jahazi service, which is why they have sued the company for breaching banking laws.
The suit, which was filed by Eric Kithingi and Arshford Koome on 17th May at the High Court in Nairobi, in addition to other 843 subscribers, argues that that Safaricom does not meet the requirements of a credit institution because it not a licensed lender. At the same time, the suit insists that Okoa Jahazi is not regulated by financial laws.
The plaintiff originally filed the petition against Safaricom and the Ministry of ICT in early February 2017 to voice their concerns against Okoa Jahazi. Afterwards, another complaint was forwarded by Mutwiri Arimi & Company Advocates, which questioned the viability of the 10% charged on Okoa Jahazi as interest. For instance, requesting for KES 50 of Okoa Jahazi nets a user KES 45, and so forth. In essence, the rates are synonymous to what banking institutions charge, which is why the suit needs to ascertain whether or not Safaricom is breaking the law.
What’s more, the suit demands Safaricom customers who have used the service be compensated because
- the interest is illegal and
- it’s a breach of the customers’ constitutional rights, citing that the telco rolled out the service without publishing terms and conditions, which made unsuspecting customers victims of unknown charges.