South Africans can now roll over unused data, voice and SMS from 2027
SA telecom regulator ICASA has mandated automatic, free rollover of unused bundles from January 2027. Vodacom and MTN are fighting it in court.
South Africa's telecom regulator, ICASA, has gazetted new rules that will force mobile operators to automatically roll over unused data, voice and SMS bundles at no cost to consumers, starting 23 January 2027.
The End-User and Subscriber Service Charter Amendment Regulations, 2025 amend the regulator's 2016 consumer charter and introduce mandatory rollover and transfer obligations for voice, SMS and data bundles. The regulations were gazetted in January 2026 and take effect 12 months later.
Under the new rules, a licensee must, at the end of a bundle's validity period, "roll over any unused bundle or portions thereof at least once, and subject the bundle rolled over to the same terms and conditions." The rollover must happen automatically, "without requiring action and without incurring any cost to the end-user, provided that the number remains active," according to the regulatory text.
Bundles valid for seven days or less, as well as uncapped, free and promotional bundles, are excluded from the mandatory rollover requirement, IOL reported. The rules also require operators to offer users the option to transfer unused bundles to other subscribers on the same network, apply bundle usage sequentially starting with the bundle closest to expiry, and provide opt-in mechanisms for out-of-bundle charges.
ICASA and Parliament's Portfolio Committee on Communications and Digital Technologies have framed the amendments as closing data expiry loopholes and reducing what has been described as exploitation of consumers through bundle expiry, according to ITWeb. Parliament's communications committee described the amendments as a "decisive step forward in reducing cost of living," particularly for prepaid mobile users, in a statement released in May 2026.
South Africa's two largest operators are pushing back. MTN and Vodacom have filed separate court challenges against the new consumer protection rules, TechCentral reported in July 2026. Scrolla Africa also covered the legal action by both operators.
ICASA had previously suggested Vodacom and MTN may have colluded in their stance against the rollover rules, but has since retracted that specific allegation. Vodacom has publicly pushed back, telling MyBroadband: "Vodacom rejects any suggestion of collusion between it and other mobile operators." A Vodacom spokesperson separately told ITWeb: "We are busy studying the amended regulations published by ICASA and will engage in due course."
The court challenges mean the January 2027 rollout could still be delayed or modified depending on the outcome of the litigation.
