Safaricom has just, customers who default on their Okoa Jahazi will have their Bonga points deduced automatically to repay the debt.
Okoa Jahazi is a service that allows Safaricom customers to borrow airtime for calls or SMS, as well as data bundles, from the company when their airtime runs out and they are unable to top it up.
After requesting the “pick me up” soft loan and receiving it, the borrower must repay the amount within 5 days.
Keep in mind that the company charges a 10% advance fee for each request.
So, if you borrow 20 bob airtime, you will receive Sh.18.50 but must repay it as Sh.20.
Read Also: EPRA Gives New Electricity Price Directives for February 2023
Safaricom also offers the Auto Okoa Service, which allows eligible prepay subscribers to choose to receive an Okoa Jahazi credit facility whenever their airtime falls below KSh 5.
The company does note, however, that some people are notorious for exceeding their specified repayment period, hence the new move.
So, if you think you’re being cool by not topping up your airtime and switching to another line to avoid repaying, Safaricom will simply deduct the amount from your Bonga points balance.
They also point out that the move is intended to reduce the value of Bonga points, which are currently worth billions of shillings and must be redeemed by customers.
“The balance of the Auto Okoa Jahazi debt must be fully repaid within five days from the date of issue failing which you will be blacklisted for 24hrs,” Safaricom stated.
Bonga points are earned through subscriber airtime top-ups and M-Pesa transactions.
Subscribers typically earn one Bonga point for every Sh10 spent on the Safaricom network on voice, mobile data, and SMS, and for every Sh100 spent on mobile data and SMS.
Read Also: Tough Times Ahead as NSSF Deductions Increase to Ksh 2,000
Subscribers typically receive one Bonga point for every Sh10 spent on the Safaricom network on voice, mobile data, and SMS, and one Bonga point for every Sh100 spent on the network on M-Pesa transactions.
Bonga points can be redeemed for free airtime, free internet, and bill payment.
Safaricom announced in November 2022 that all Bonga Points older than three years would expire and be unavailable for redemption beginning January 1, 2023.
All subscribers who fell into this category were advised to redeem their Bonga points as soon as possible to avoid incurring losses when the expiry date arrived.
“We have noticed that they are usually dormant hence becoming a liability to us if unclaimed,” Safaricom said.
Subscribe to our Youtube channel Switch TV
The move was intended to free up Sh4.5 billion in underlying revenue as of March 2022.
Safaricom’s unredeemed Bonga Points revenue increased to KSh 4.5 billion in March 2022, up from KSh 3 billion in 2015.
