Kabogo to sue telcos over data bundles expiry

Former Kiambu governor William Kabogo is contemplating suing telcos over expiry date for data bundles.

He said that he had contracted lawyers to draft a plan on the intended litigation with a view of freeing consumers from what he views as economic servitude.

“You cannot sell me sugar and then attach a condition that if I will not have consumed it within a specified time frame then you will come to repossess i…What you buy must belong to you,” he said.

He added that mobile data providers “are treating their data bundles like a pregnancy that once you carry it to term, you got no choice but give birth …”

The politician said he believes that data bundles should not have an expiry date and if they must have, then they should be renewable.

“We are not saying that we be compensated for data not used within specified time frames. If it is for their logistical convenience that there must be an expiry date, then all unconsumed data as long it was initially paid for should be renewed and not expire,” he said.

Recently, mobile data service providers have been soaking the pressure of customer opposing this expiry time frames on paid for bundles.

Safaricom has since unveiled structures to have its customers renew unconsumed data.

“We listened to our subscribers and made the necessary changes to the customer journey to allow them to continue to enjoy the unparalleled data experience that only Safaricom #ticker:SCOM can provide,” said Ms Sylvia Mulinge, Safaricom’s chief customer officer in a statement.

She added the move had been a culmination of a series of engagements between the company and its customers.

In the announced guidelines, customers will be able to extend the validity of unused data bundles when they top up again, a move Mr Kabogo termed as cheeky response.

“It should not be where I will be compelled to incur a bill so that I can continue consuming data I purchased. As long as that data was not purchased through hire purchase kind of agreement, in all instances where I paid for that data and was cleared to enjoy its service, I should be in a position to use it at my pace and time-frame,” he said.