The two-year legal battle between Safaricom and the Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK) has now reached an out-of-court settlement, and the sum is expected to be staggered over three years.
In its 2013 annual report, the company said: “The suit was settled by consent with CCK agreeing to refund, by way of credit notes against their other fee invoice, the $15 million in three equal instalments over three financial years to June 2015.”
The dispute began in 2010 when CCK decided to lower the 3G fees for Airtel and Orange Kenya to $10 million, triggering Safaricom to demand equality from the regulator.
“In order to attain the principle of equality in licence fees, Safaricom filed High Court Misc. Application No. 197 of 2011, seeking a refund of USD 15 million from CCK being the extra amount paid for the 3G licence,” Safaricom’s report continued.
Safaricom will also reportedly pay reduced permit renewal fees for the licence next year as part of the deal.
The refund follows Safaricom’s recent partnership with security provider Gemalto for its cloud solutions.
