MorningMTN and Vodacom could each face fines of up to R5 million, about $298,000. This comes as South Africa tightens rules on how mobile data bundles expire, roll over and transfer between customers.
Communications Minister Solly Malatsi confirmed the penalty amount this week. He was responding to questions raised in Parliament. According to Malatsi, the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa, ICASA, holds the power to set and enforce these fines. This power comes from the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act. Malatsi also noted that ICASA sees the current penalty ceiling as adequate. The regulator has no plans to raise it, even with two of Africa’s largest telecom operators in its sights.
A fine, however, is not the only risk operators face. Companies that fall short of the new requirements could also have their names published in national media. In addition, they may be ordered to fund and run consumer awareness campaigns at their own expense. For companies the size of MTN and Vodacom, that kind of public exposure could sting just as much as the money, if not more.
Meanwhile, both companies are pushing back hard against the rules. MTN and Vodacom filed separate court applications in late July 2026. Their target is a set of regulations ICASA gazetted back in January. Under the new framework, operators must automatically roll over unused data, voice and SMS bundles at least once, instead of letting that paid-for allocation simply expire. The rules also tighten out-of-bundle charging and force operators to deduct from customers’ oldest bundles first.
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Still, both companies insist they are not trying to block consumer protection altogether. Instead, they argue that certain parts of the regulation are vague or hard to put into practice. Vodacom, for instance, raised four specific concerns. On out-of-bundle charges, the operator warned that the current wording could cause calls to cut off the moment a bundle runs out. This could happen even to customers who never opted into extra charging. Vodacom says that outcome was never the rule’s intention.
On bundle transfers, Vodacom flagged a different risk. Allowing unlimited transfers to other users on the same network, it warned, could open the door to informal resale markets. In other words, customers could start buying and selling data allocations outside any official channel. MTN, for its part, filed its own review application on July 22, 2026, raising similar objections about the scope and clarity of the changes.
These new rules build on protections that have existed since 2019. Back then, ICASA first required operators to offer customers the option, not the obligation, to roll over or transfer unused data. The 2026 amendments go much further. They make rollovers automatic and close loopholes that let operators charge customers for data those customers never truly lost the right to use.
Not everyone sympathizes with the operators’ legal fight, though. The Economic Freedom Fighters have criticized MTN and Vodacom for taking the matter to court. The party accuses both companies of protecting a business model that profits from data customers pay for but never get to use. ICASA, for its part, maintains that the regulations follow years of public consultation. The goal, it says, is simply fairer value for consumers.
The compliance deadline is still more than a year away. So, the coming months of litigation will decide a lot. Will South Africa’s telecom giants have to overhaul their billing systems on ICASA’s timeline? Or will they win enough concessions to reshape the rules first? Either way, millions of prepaid customers are watching closely.
