Parliament, Wednesday, 17 September 2025 – The Portfolio Committee on Trade, Industry and Competition engaged the National Consumer Commission (NCC), the Independent Communication Authority of South Africa (ICASA), and the Competition Commission (CompCom) today on the cost and expiration of data and whether this aligns with section 63 of the Consumer Protection Act (CPA), 2008.
The committee engaged these regulatory bodies on the alignment of data costs and expiry of bundles. Section 63(2) of the Act provides that vouchers purchased must have a minimum expiry period of three years.
While the telecommunications sector is primarily regulated by ICASA through the Electronic Communications Act (ECA), 2005; data bundles and prepaid vouchers should also be subject to Section 63 of the CPA, which requires a three-year validity period unless a longer period is agreed upon. This expiry period has not been standardised among mobile network operators.
The NCC reported to the committee that it had concluded a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with ICASA, which seeks to align their work to ensure that business practices in the sector adhere to consumer protection provisions. The focus of the work has been on data billing, expiry of data, and international roaming.
On expiry of data, engagement with industry was to assess business practices in relation to expiry of data and ‘unused’ minutes. This culminated into the publication of the 2018 ICASA amended End User and Subscriber Service Charter Regulations, which included aspects to promote consumer education; enable consumers to monitor their usage and control spend on communication services; rollover and transfer unused data; and disallow out of bundle billing without consumers’ prior consent.
Subsequently, these regulations were amended in 2022 and 2023 to address further regulatory gaps. The committee emphasised that access to affordable data was critical to society, as it was the gateway to accessing information in this economy. In particular, it was unacceptable that unused data or minutes should expire, as often vulnerable groups of people use their last money to purchase these bundles.
The committee was of the view that this constituted unfair and exploitative trade practices, effectively denying large parts of society to access information to improve their livelihoods. Thus, it appeared that business was putting profits before the protection of consumers. Therefore, according to the committee, there is a need for more stringent legislation to protect consumers from these practices.
The Chairperson of the committee, Mr Mzwandile Masina, said: “Data cost is part of cost of living, so the high cost of data coupled with the expiration of unused data is concerning. Therefore, issues relating to these should be addressed as a matter of urgency.”
ICASA told the committee that it was finalising the latest amendments to the End User and Subscriber Service Charter Regulations to provide for the standardisation in the application of the roll-over and transfer of bundles by licensees, among others. This is expected to be published in November 2025.
In this regard, the committee is awaiting the publication of these regulations and will schedule a meeting with the Portfolio Committee on Communications and Digital Technologies to conclude on the matter of data costs and the alignment of data expiration with provisions of the Consumer Protection Act. “Data costs and data expiry must fall in our lifetime,” said Mr Masina.
ISSUED BY THE PARLIAMENTARY COMMUNICATION SERVICES ON BEHALF OF THE CHAIRPERSON OF THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON TRADE, INDUSTRY AND COMPETITION, MR MZWANDILE MASINA.
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