Vodacom cancels plan to charge for rolling over data
Social media users were outraged after discovering the operator planned to charge R49 in some cases
Just two days after the mobile operator came under fire on social media, Vodacom has back-pedalled on its plan to charge customers to roll over expiring data. On Monday, it emerged that Vodacom had planned to charge customers up to R49 to roll over data bundles when they expired. This was part of the operator’s preparation for SA’s new data expiry rules, which come into effect on Friday. From that day, mobile operators must let customers roll over unused data, according to regulations set by the Independent Communications Authority of SA (Icasa). The rules are aimed at reducing the cost to communicate.
A Vodacom spokesperson told Business Day on Wednesday that the operator was no longer considering fees for data roll-overs. This brings it in line with rival operators MTN and Telkom, which had never planned to charge customers to extend the life of unused data bundles, according to their spokespeople. A Cell C spokesperson said on Monday that the operator did charge customers t...
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