14 June 2019

Vodacom and MTN stand accused of fleecing their customers – particularly the poor ones – when it came to data, by South Africa’s Competition Commission (CC).

Both companies charge more for data in South Africa than any other country they operate in. 

The CC found that overcharging was especially acute for more underprivileged consumers who typically use small, prepaid data bundles.

Giving mobile operators until June to comment on the report, the CC’s Tembinkosi Bonakele said the findings of benchmarking studies were disturbing. “International benchmarking confirmed that SA data prices are high, particularly for mobile pre-paid data,” Bonakele said in an e-mailed statement. 

“They found that lower-income consumers were exploited more compared with wealthier consumers.”

Bonakele said those buying smaller data bundles pay up to twice as much compared with consumers who buy larger ones.

“The cost of mobile data is anti-poor and lacks transparency, with lower-income consumers being exploited compared to higher income consumers,” he added. 

Shares in Vodacom and MTN fell sharply on Wednesday April 24th after the CC released its scathing report.

Vodacom fell by 4.68 per cent, while MTN dropped 2.65 per cent.

The CC said it wants networks to introduce data price cuts immediately.