There is good news on the horizon for South Africans and those who use a lot of mobile data, following the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa’s (Icasa) amendment to the rules on when mobile data bundles can expire.
Icasa published the updated rules for voice, SMS, and data bundles in the country in the Government Gazette on Friday.
New amendments
The new amendment requires mobile networks to roll over specific unused bundles.
The new amendments in the End-User and Subscriber Service Charter Amendment Regulations, 2025, will take effect on 23 January 2027, a year after their publication.
“A Licensee shall apply bundle usage sequentially against unused bundles with the earliest expiry, until such bundles are depleted, and thereafter against the next earliest expiry of any bundle,” Icasa said.
“A Licensee must, at the end of the validity period of a bundle, roll over any unused bundle or portions thereof at least once, and subject the bundle rolled over to the same terms and conditions applicable to the original bundle, except for bundles that are 7 days or less and excluding uncapped, free and promotional bundles.”
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No cost
Icasa said the roll-over of bundles must occur without requiring action and without incurring any cost to the end-user, provided that the number remains active.
“The validity period of a bundle must be extended when the end-user is unable to utilise the bundle due to a fault on the part of the Licensee.”
Depletion notice
Icasa said a licensee must send usage depletion notifications to end-users via SMS, push notifications, or any other applicable means when usage reaches 50%, 80%, and 100% depletion for each bundle.
“At all times, a licensee must ensure that end-users are provided with the option to
- Opt out of or into usage depletion notifications
- Buy additional bundles via the USSD platform, push notification, or any other appropriate means
- Opt in to or opt out of out-of-bundle usage charges
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Rollover
Icasa also wants the rollover of bundles to occur without requiring action and without incurring any cost to the end-user, provided that the number remains active.
Icasa added that the transfer of bundles must be subject to the following conditions:
- Not limited to any specific type of service
- Not limited to the number of times or volume that the end user may transfer such bundles,
- Applies to any SIM card on the same network
- Excludes the transfer of uncapped, free or promotional bundles
Review
Icasa began reviewing the regulations in February 2024, saying there was sufficient evidence “that the current data, voice and SMS regime does not adequately address the unfair market condition borne from the data expiry rules set by licensees [mobile network operators].
Most notably, the proposed amendments sought to treat all mobile service bundles the same way, meaning the same rules would apply to data, voice, SMS and OTT bundles.
Currently, mobile bundles are not transferable. Icasa seeks to change this by proposing the option to transfer bundles or portions thereof to any user within the same network.
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