What happens to your phone number, and the money and accounts linked to it, if you stop using your line for a few months? That question was before Parliament this week as MPs examined how Safaricom deactivates inactive SIM cards and hands the numbers to new customers.

The hearing

On October 6, Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) Director-General David Mugonyi appeared before the National Assembly's Public Petitions Committee, chaired by Turbo MP Janet Sitienei. The committee is considering a petition from members of the public who say Safaricom usually deactivates SIM cards after about six months of inactivity and reassigns the numbers without enough warning.

The new rules

The CA told MPs that operators must now follow a set process before a number can be recycled:

  • When a number has been inactive for more than three months, the operator must try to reach the owner using the details given at SIM registration, including alternative phone numbers and email addresses.
  • That notification period then runs for another three months.
  • Only numbers inactive for more than six months can become eligible for deactivation and recycling, and only after a public notice.
  • Operators must publish lists of affected numbers and provide a USSD code so people can check whether their line is on the list.

Subscribers who expect to be inactive for more than six months because of illness, imprisonment or another incapacity can ask for their numbers to be protected from recycling. The Commissioner of Prisons can also ask operators to protect inmates' numbers.

What is still unresolved

A phone number in Kenya is far more than a way to make calls. It is linked to M-PESA, bank accounts, social media, email and many other services. MPs asked what happens to money left in mobile money accounts when an owner dies and the number is later recycled, and whether those balances should go to the unclaimed financial assets system.

The CA did not announce a mechanism for recovering such money. The wider inquiry is expected to involve Safaricom, the Central Bank of Kenya, the Unclaimed Financial Assets Authority and consumer groups. The CA is also considering making mobile networks register SIM cards directly instead of relying on third-party agents, because many registrations lack alternative contact details.

What you should do

Keep any line you care about active with at least occasional use, make sure your SIM registration includes an alternative contact, and move bank, email and social media logins off numbers you no longer use.