Telecommunications firm Safaricom has dropped a controversial plan that would have seen the expiry of Bonga Points collected by its customers.
This follows huge uproar from customers who have been questioning the decision to have Bonga Points expire ever since the expiry was announced in late 2022.
According to a report that appeared in a local daily, Safaricom denied that it ever said Bonga Points would start expiring. “At no point did Safaricom say that Bonga would be expiring,” the firm was quoted as saying.
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The company has also reportedly taken down a report on its website that detailed the expiry of the Bonga Points program.
Bonga Points were to start expiring after every three years. This meant that Bonga Points accumulated before 2019 would be expiring in January 2023.
Safaricom had termed the introduction of the expiry dates as a business decision that is meant to encourage redemption.
“Effective January 1, 2023, all Bonga points older than three years will expire and will be unavailable for redemption,” said Safaricom in updated terms and conditions for the loyalty programme,” Safaricom had said previously.
“Your Bonga points will also expire immediately in the event that your line has been deleted as a result of inactivity and in accordance with the terms and conditions for the use of the Safaricom services.”
The loyalty scheme, introduced in January 2007, gives subscribers one Bonga point for every Sh. 10 spent on the Safaricom network on voice, mobile data and SMS, and for every Sh. 100 spent on the network for M-Pesa transactions.