Banks and mobile money operators have proceeded to levy fees for transferring cash between their platforms despite the existence of a temporary High Court order suspending the charges.
The High Court Judge Mugure Thande had issued an interim order to Safaricom and the Central Bank of Kenya to suspend the reintroduction of bank-to-MPesa charges pending the determination of a suit involving financial consumer rights.
A spot check on Friday showed that Safaricom and banks such as KCB and Equity were still charging customers amounts exceeding Sh100
In a petition filed by Moses Wafula a Nairobi resident claims that the charges should not be passed to consumers.
Mr Wafula said should the court find that the Mpesa Paybill charges are illegal more funds from the members of the public will have been lost and it may be difficult to ask the banks to refund the same.
The order stops the reintroduction of charges between mobile money wallets and bank transactions as advanced by the CBK through a press release issued on December 6, 2022.
The Banks being one of the Safaricom’s Mpesa Paybill primary clients also elect to pass the Safaricom Mpesa Paybill charges to the members of the public (the Safaricom clients’ customers),” he argues.
The petition relates to financial consumer rights with a focus on the area of payment services provided
by Safaricom Limited in the form of Lipa na M-Pesa Pay Bill Service.
The case will be mentioned on January 23, 2023.