Mobile network operator Airtel has announced adjustments in pricing for voice, data and SMS following the coming into effect of the Finance Act 2023.
The Act, whose implementation at the start of last month had been halted as a result of a court order, has since been implemented after the courts allowed its execution. As a result, affected parties have been reaching out to their customers to inform them of any changes they would witness.
We have heard from Safaricom, which has announced an increase in rates for its mobile money platform, M-Pesa. Now, we are hearing from Airtel.
Finance Act 2023 revises the excise duty levied on mobile money and telecommunication services (defined as calls, mobile data, fibre internet and SMS). The former is revised upwards, from 12% to 15% while the latter is revised downwards, from 20% to 15%.
While not mentioning the specific rates, a statement from Airtel Kenya to the public says that the telecommunications company’s subscribers can expect to see a reduction in the price of calls, data and SMS effective today, August 1st, 2023.
On the mobile money front, Airtel, which already doesn’t charge its subscribers when they transact money within its network (i.e. send money from one Airtel Money user to another), has announced that Airtel Money charges will remain unchanged.
Airtel Money remains cheaper than Safaricom’s M-Pesa. For instance, sending the highest amount allowable of Kshs 150,000 from Airtel Money to, say, an M-Pesa wallet, will attract fees of Kshs 105. The same transaction, when initiated on Safaricom’s end (M-Pesa) to a subscriber either within its M-Pesa network or outside (Airtel Money, T-Kash, etc), will cost Kshs 3 more. If withdrawing the same amount at an agent, an Airtel Money user will be charged Kshs 270 while an M-Pesa user, withdrawing the same at an M-Pesa agent, will be billed Kshs 309.
