Kenya’s leading telco Safaricom has rescinded its earlier decision to set an expiry date for Bonga Points loyalty programme that had accumulated over 4.5 billion in liabilities as of March 2022.

In an upgrade to the terms and conditions of its loyalty programme unveiled in November 2022, Safaricom planned to expire Bonga Points older than three years on January 1, 2023.

“Effective January 1, 2023, all Bonga Points older than three years will expire and will be unavailable for redemption,” the telco said.

On Tuesday, Safaricom dismissed reports it has set an expiry date for Bonga Points.

“At no point did Safaricom announce that Bonga (Points) were expiring,” Safaricom said.

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The change of tune by Safaricom comes after a section of its subscribers protested the move and one Nakuru Surgeon Magare Gikenyi moved to court to have the telco halt its plans to retire Bonga Points.

Gikenyi argued the move was abusive of dominance and would affect its customers in remote areas apart from being illegal.

“It is unfair for the respondents to fail their subscribers by forcing them to redeem their loyalty points, or else they lose them through its arbitrary and irrational actions,” Gikenyi said.

However, High Court Judge Mugure Thande declined the petition saying it was filed late and directed that the matter be heard on March 6, 2023.

Safaricom launched the Bonga Points loyalty program in October 2017.