Page 62 - ITU-T Focus Group Digital Financial Services – Consumer Experience and Protection

ITU-T Focus Group Digital Financial Services
Consumer Experience and Protection

Figure 4: Change of T&Cs with notice

In certain provider contracts, customers are asked to accept the possibility that there will be changes in
advance, even as they clearly would not know the nature of such changes at the time they agree to be bound
by the contract. Other contracts make the customer responsible for checking provider websites regularly in
order to look out for any new changes, which would clearly be burdensome, especially if notice that changes
have been made has not been given to the customer. This leaves customers being legally required to accept
terms and conditions that are subsequently introduced, whether they have read and agreed to them or not.

See Box 4 for an example of a user agreement in Tanzania which may be deemed inconsistent with the spirit
of domestic law on the issue of notifying the consumer of a change in the terms and conditions.

Box 4: Changes to terms and conditions

Tanzania Legal & Regulatory Provision: E-Money Regulations 2015, section 44:

(1) An electronic money issuer shall display and disclose charges and fees for its services to its
customers and any changes thereof.

(2) An electronic money issuer shall notify its customers the fees and charges before imposing such
fees or charges.

(3) The notice to customer shall-

(a) be delivered through electronic media and displays in a conspicuous place at the electronic money
issuer’s offices and agents outlets;

Comment:

The regulations require changes relating to fees to be notified to customers before these are imposed.
In the contracts reviewed, there was no mention of the provider giving prior notice to the customer.
In fact, for example, the Tigo Pesa clause provides at clause 4.2 that Tigo reserves the right to vary
the charges and tariffs at its discretion and without notice to the Subscriber.

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