Safaricom—Safaricom applied undisclosed lump-sum 'catch-up' Fuliza fee deductions to M-Pesa accounts after billing system failure, without itemized notice
After Safaricom's billing system failed to charge daily Fuliza overdraft fees between February 26 and March 20, 2026, the company applied a single lump-sum 'catch-up adjustment' deducting the accumulated unbilled fees from affected M-Pesa accounts simultaneously, without itemized statements or advance customer consent. Affected customers, including a Nairobi law firm partner who called the deduction 'theft,' said they received no forewarning before funds were withdrawn. Safaricom confirmed the one-time adjustment covered all affected accounts and said no further adjustments would follow, but did not offer itemized billing or an opt-out. The episode adds to a pattern of customer complaints about non-consensual Fuliza-linked deductions from M-Pesa balances.
Scoring Impact
| Topic | Direction | Relevance | Contribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Consumer Protection | -against | primary | -1.00 |
| Corporate Transparency | -against | secondary | -0.50 |
| Overall incident score = | -0.443 | ||
Score = avg(topic contributions) × significance (medium ×1) × confidence (0.59)
Evidence (2 signals)
Kenya Insights: Safaricom applied blanket 'catch-up' Fuliza deduction after billing failure without customer consent
Kenya Insights reported Safaricom's Fuliza billing system failed to charge daily fees from Feb 26 to Mar 20, 2026, then applied a single undisclosed lump-sum adjustment across affected accounts without itemized statements, drawing complaints including from a law firm partner who called it 'theft.'
Tech-ish: Safaricom silently deducting M-Pesa balances for 'unbilled' Fuliza loans
Tech-ish reported on the same Fuliza billing 'catch-up' adjustment, corroborating that Safaricom deducted accumulated unbilled overdraft fees from customer M-Pesa balances without prior itemized notice.