Explainer: The Kenya Information & Communications (Amendment) Bill 2025
The Bill is sponsored by Aldai Member of Parliament Marianne Kitany.
A new Bill compels telecommunications companies and internet service providers (ISPs) operating in Kenya to introduce metered billing systems that assign all subscribers unique identifiers to monitor their usage.
Sponsored by Aldai Member of Parliament Marianne Kitany, the Kenya Information and Communications (Amendment) Bill, 2025, wants ISPs such as Safaricom, Starlink, Zuku, Jamii Telkom, and Faiba to assign each of their customers a unique and identifiable meter number.
"The principal object of this Bill is to amend the Kenya Information and Communications Act Cap 411A to provide for internet billing by internet service providers for metered billing of internet use, based on consumption in order to mitigate exploitation and to secure economic interests of internet users in line with Article 46 of Constitution," reads the bill.
"The Bill seeks to require Internet service providers to develop and deploy quality metered billing system capable of monitoring customer usage, convert to readable details, and create invoices based on consumption and align their metrics with the value the customers get from various internet services."
If passed, it would require telcos and ISPs to submit details of the billing system to the Communications Authority (CA) at least once every fiscal year.
“An internet service provider licensed under this Act shall submit to the Authority, at least once in every financial year, information on the billing system including internet meter numbers issued to subscribers," the bill adds.
Further, the proposed law wants the interpretation of the Kenya Information and Communications Act amended to explicitly refer to ISPs alongside 'telecommunication operators'.
Per the Bill, all licenses and registrations currently held by ISPs shall remain valid until the expiry but subsequent licensing and registration of the internet providers shall be issued under the stipulations of the proposed law.
Kitany argues that if passed, the proposed law will help mitigate consumer exploitation and “secure the economic interests of internet users” in line with Article 46 of the Constitution.
According to Kitany, the Bill does not delegate legislative powers nor does it limit fundamental rights and freedoms.
"The Bill does not concern County Governments in terms of Article 110 (1) (a) of the Constitution, and it does not affect the functions and powers of County Governments recognized in the Fourth Schedule to the Constitution," it says.
On whether the proposed legilslation is a "money Bill" within the meaning of Article 114 of the Constitution it reads; "The enactment of this Bill may occasion additional expenditure of public funds."
A money Bill refers to a specific type of bill that deals with financial matters like taxes, public funds, and borrowing.
