We started off with waiver on M-PESA transaction charges. Safaricom Home Fibre customers received even better news with their internet speeds being doubled for the same price. And it seems this gift keeps on giving with the latest update from the telco.

If you’ve been keen enough when recharging you airtime today, you might have noticed that you got a couple of shillings more. Well, that’s not another glitch that ends up with you unwillingly paying up.

The Kenyan government has today announced a number of tax measures to help citizens cope with the coronavirus outbreak. One of these is the reduction of Value Added Tax (VAT) from 16% to 14% that has taken effect as of April 1st, 2020.

Start off your week with tech news recap and trending conversations in your inbox

Enter valid email-id

Subscribe

I prefer it on Telegram

In accordance with that alteration, Safaricom has then reviewed all its product and service offerings. This means an immediate 2% extra airtime for all prepaid customers. If you recharge KES 100 worth of airtime as of today, you will get KES 102.

Home Fiber customers also stand as beneficiaries with a 2% refund on their package costs. A user that pays KES 2,900, for instance, for the Bronze package will get a KES 58 credit that will then be used for the next monthly package.

Even the company’s devices including smartphones sold at Safaricom shops and Masoko will have their prices reduced to reflect the 14% VAT. All personal corporate postpaid services will also lower pricing from today.

One may argue that it is not much, but it’s definitely welcome both from Safaricom and the government. It is then only a matter of time before Airtel and Telkom make similar decisions.