The High Court of Kenya has issued temporary orders to halt the reintroduction of charges for mobile money wallets and bank transactions. The court issued the orders on January 12, 2023, pending the hearing and determination of a petition challenging the reintroduction of the charges by mobile money operators. The matter has been scheduled for mention on January 23, 2023.
The petitioner, Moses Wafula, argues that the reintroduction of charges for mobile money wallets and bank transactions is a violation of his rights and that of members of the public. In the court documents, it states that “The Applicant contends that his rights and the rights of other members of the public have been violated, infringed and continues to be threatened by the 1st Respondent herein and the Government of Kenya in view of the directive issued by the Intended 3rd Respondent on 6th December 2022.”
The petition was filed last year after a notice was issued by the Central Bank of Kenya announcing the reintroduction of the charges effective January 1, 2023. The petitioner argued that unless the court suspends the reintroduction of the charges pending the conclusion of the matter, it would be difficult to refund the collected monies in the event the court rules in his favor.
“THAT, if the Banks continue riding on this Mpesa Paybill infrastructure, making money from members of the public, then in the event that this honorable court finds this Mpesa pay bill platform in contravention of the constitution and various statutory provisions, the impact will be higher; more funds from the members of the public would have been lost and it may be a lot more difficult to ask the banks to refund such funds collected from the members of the public,” reads court documents.
Safaricom, the Attorney General, the Central Bank of Kenya, the Treasury Cabinet Secretary, and the Competition Authority of Kenya have been listed as the respondents respectively. The Central Bank of Kenya announced on December 6, 2022, that the charges were set to be restored from January 1, 2023, following discussions and lobbying between the CBK, banks, and payment service providers with the latter two groups pushing for the fee return.
The charges were waived on March 16, 2020, as part of the government’s emergency measures to facilitate the use of mobile money to contain the spread of COVID-19 in the country. The payment service providers and banks have however agreed to revise the maximum charges on the transactions following consultations with the CBK. With the temporary orders issued by the High Court, the reintroduction of the charges will be halted until the conclusion of the matter.
