Kenya’s Central Bank (CBK) continues it’s drive for reduced mobile services. CBK governor Njuguna Ndung’u said this week that he expects mobile phone operators, including Safaricom, Airtel Kenya, Telkom Kenya and Essar Telecom to announce new charges for their services. This anticipated move comes on the heels of a price war between the four operators.
The operators, who are still adjusting to enforced lower calling rates, are facing a new battle from the CBK who argue the cost of mobile services in the country is too high for the average citizen.
“They must bring down the unit cost of their money transfer services. There is no way one can send Sh50 at Sh35. We expect to see new tariffs very soon,” Governor Ndung’u said during a financial education implementation program briefing to business editors and reporters.
His call follows Airtel Kenya’s recent tariff promotion in which it reduced its calling rates from Sh3 to Sh1, triggering condemnation from its competitors who termed the move as unsustainable.
He revealed that the reduction is among the conditions the operators agreed to before CBK allowed them to review the limits on the amount that can be transferred from Sh35,000 to Sh70,000 per transaction.
“If they refuse (to reduce the transaction costs), we will refuse to approve the limits. It is not a choice of how much they have to charge but how affordable and reasonable the charge is,” Ndung’u said .
By Staff
