By Anita Dangazele
- MTN and Vodacom have gone to court to fight a new rule that would stop your unused data, voice and airtime from expiring.
- The rule, starting January 2027, would also let you send your leftover data to someone else on the same network.
You buy data. You don’t finish it in time. It disappears, and you paid for nothing. MTN and Vodacom are now going to court to try to stop a new rule that would put a stop to exactly that.
The rule comes from ICASA, the body that regulates cellphone networks. From January 2027, it would force MTN, Vodacom and other networks to carry over your unused data, airtime and SMS at least once, instead of letting it expire. This would happen automatically, for free, for any bundle that lasts seven days or longer. You’d also be allowed to send your leftover data to someone else on the same network, useful if you buy a bundle for your family or a friend.
MTN and Vodacom don’t want this rule to happen. MTN went to court on 22 July, and Vodacom has filed its own separate case. Both are asking a judge to cancel the rule completely.
MTN says ICASA doesn’t have the legal power to force this, and that it could actually push prices up. Vodacom says parts of the rule are confusing and hard to put in place, though it says it supports protecting consumers in general. Both companies had asked ICASA to first prove the rule was really needed. ICASA said no, it doesn’t have to prove that.
ICASA’s own reason for the rule is simple: it says networks have been getting around the current, weaker rules for years, charging people extra once their data runs out while letting leftover data just vanish.
The EFF has come out strongly against MTN and Vodacom’s court case.
The party says data “does not rot, expire, or perish like food,” and that there’s no good reason to take away data people have already paid for.
“These companies want the public to believe that allowing them to retain data they have already paid for is somehow an unreasonable burden,” the EFF said.
This fight has been going on for years. ICASA first wanted networks to roll over data for six whole months back in 2022. After pushback from the industry, it settled on this weaker, once-off version in 2024. Now even that is being challenged in court.
Pictured above: Millions of South Africans rely on prepaid data every day.
Image source: Pexels
