Banks and mobile money providers have continued to charge for financial transfers
between their systems despite the temporary High court’s order suspending the charges.
Although fees on bank-to-mobile transactions resumed on January 1 despite the interim
order being given on December 19, 2022, they have nonetheless been maintained.
The case is scheduled to come up for further directions on January 23.
Safaricom (the owner of the M-Pesa mobile money platform) and banks including KCB
and Equity were still billing clients more than Sh100, according to a spot check on
Monday.
“Pending the hearing and determination of this application and the petition, interim and
conservatory orders do issue and be directed to the respondents, their agents or anyone
authorised by them or acting under the instructions and/ or directions of the
respondents, to stop, halt and/ or suspend the coming into effect of the reintroduction
of charges for mobile money wallet and bank transactions as advanced by the intended
3rd respondent through its press release issued on the December 6 2022,” reads the
prayer granted by the court until January 23.
The order followed a petition by a Nairobi resident Moses Wafula who argued that the
reintroduction of transaction charges between mobile money wallets and bank
transactions violates his rights and the right of other public members.
Wafula argued that should the High Court find out that charges on Mpesa Paybill are
illegal, a huge sum from the members of the public would have been lost, and it would
be difficult to recover them.
The Central Bank of Kenya gave banks permission to reintroduce fees on December 6,
2022, with effect from January 1, 2023.
On March 16, 2020, as part of the emergency efforts to promote the usage of mobile
money amid the height of the Covid-19 outbreak, the fees were abolished.
