Kenya’s estimated value of unused Safaricom airtime and data bundles have toppled the Sh2.1 billion mark, before the introduction of a non-expiry option last year.
This has been attributed to the much welcomed October 23 decision to offer customers non-expiry airtime and data bundles.
“During the year the group introduced the no expiry products under the Neo theme to ensure customers get value for what they buy. As a result, the value of unutilized resources increased,” says Safaricom in its annual report.
The figure gives a sneak peek into how much-unused airtime and data bundles customers were losing from their wallets prior to the launch of the non-expiry option.
A further rise in the figure is likely to be seen in the current financial year given that the surge relates to just five months that the non-expiry product was in place.
Prior to its introduction, public outcry was meted towards Safaricom for what many termed as extortion, attributed to their mode of pricing.
The matter was later presented to court, through Lawyer and ICT practitioner Adrian Kamotho. He sued Safaricom, Airtel and Telkom Kenya over the expiry of data and loss of unused internet bundles.
Another defferrment plan, Bonga Points, was introduced in January 2007 to give subscribers one point for every Sh10 spent.
According to the Business Daily, the telco treats the points as a liability or deferred income in its books and only recognizes it as revenue once the points are redeemed.
The value of unclaimed Bonga points had hit Sh3.94 billion in the year to March from Sh3.85 billion in the previous year, prompting the teleco to avail options for customers to use the resource for air tickets, shopping, fueling their cars.
