South Africa's Communications Minister Solly Malatsi has confirmed that MTN and Vodacom — the country's two largest mobile network operators, jointly serving the vast majority of South African subscribers — could each face fines of up to R5 million (approximately $298,000) for failing to comply with new regulations governing the expiration, rollover, and transfer of mobile data bundles between customers.

Responding to questions in Parliament, Minister Malatsi explained that the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) is responsible for setting and enforcing penalties under the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act. According to Malatsi, ICASA considers the current penalties sufficient and does not intend to raise the maximum fine.

Beyond financial penalties, non-compliant operators also risk having their names published in national media and being ordered to run consumer awareness campaigns at their own expense. For major operators such as MTN and Vodacom, such reputational damage could be just as consequential as a monetary fine.

ICASA published the regulations at the centre of the dispute in January 2026 as amendments to the End-User and Subscriber Service Charter Regulations. The amendments introduced a unified framework covering voice, SMS, and data bundles, replacing a patchwork of separate rules. The reforms arrive after years of sustained public pressure over the cost and fair treatment of mobile data in South Africa, where consumer campaigns such as #DataMustFall have highlighted affordability concerns and the practice of forfeiting paid-for data through expiry.

Under the new rules, operators must notify customers — via SMS, push notification, or other means — when their bundle reaches 50%, 80%, and 100% usage. Customers may choose whether to receive these alerts. Operators may only apply out-of-bundle rates if a customer has explicitly agreed. Any remaining data must roll over at least once after the bundle expires. Customers must also be able to share all or part of their bundle with other users on the same network.

Why MTN and Vodacom Are Challenging the Rules in Court

Despite the threat of fines, MTN and Vodacom have launched legal challenges against the regulations, filing their court applications in late July 2026. The companies state that their objections are not aimed at opposing consumer protection but instead target specific provisions they consider ambiguous or impractical.

Vodacom raised four particular concerns. Regarding out-of-bundle usage, the operator noted that the current wording could cause calls to end automatically once a customer's bundle is depleted if the customer has not opted into out-of-bundle charging — an outcome the company says was never the regulation's intent.

On bundle transfers, Vodacom warned that allowing transfers to an unlimited number of recipients on the same network could create opportunities for unintended arbitrage. On the issue of rollovers, the company expressed concerns about products with very large fixed wireless access quotas, where the mechanics of rolling over data are more complex.

Vodacom also questioned why mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) — smaller companies that lease network capacity from larger operators — are exempt from the same rules.

MTN echoed concerns about regulatory fairness, stating that a sustainable, competitive market requires uniform rules for all similar service providers.

The legal challenge drew a response from Khusela Diko, chairperson of Parliament's Portfolio Committee on Communications and Digital Technologies. After MTN and Vodacom filed their court papers, Diko visited MTN's offices and stated publicly that there is no technical reason for mobile data to expire in South Africa.

"We've never understood why data must expire," she said, adding that the committee is engaging with operators to understand their challenges but is not seeking to alter ICASA's position on the regulations.

South Africa is not alone in grappling with these issues. Regulators in several other African markets, including Tanzania and Mozambique, have introduced comparable rules requiring data rollover and restricting automatic expiry of prepaid bundles, part of a broader continental push to strengthen consumer protections in mobile services.

The standoff leaves South African consumers in limbo. The rules are in force and the penalties are real, but the legal challenge may delay full enforcement until the courts resolve the dispute.

Source: MyBroadband