Did SI 127 affect Econet’s buy USD airtime for bonuses promotion?

Econet Wireless Zimbabwe yesterday announced a promotion that would see customers who bought airtime in USD get free/bonus data, call time and SMSes. This promotion was posted just before the government and RBZ announced the new forex regulations and penalties under Statutory Instrument 127 of 2021 (SI 127 of 2021). Under the new rules, a company cannot give a discount for purchases in USD or induce customers to pay in USD with the promise of a discount.

“One will be guilty, if he or she sells, displays or offers goods or services for sale at an exchange rate above the ruling exchange rate, or imposes (for the predominant purpose of encouraging payment in a foreign currency) a premium on Zimbabwe dollar payments or allows a discount on foreign currency payments.”

SI 127 of 2021

	Voice	Data	SMSes	Bonus Valid For
US$1.00	3 minutes	30 MB	10	1 Day
US$5.00	24 minutes	300 MB	60	3 Days
US$10.00	55 minutes	600 MB	140	5 Days
US$20.00	125 mintues	1 200 MB	310	7 Days

We have scanned through Econet’s social media and the original post the telecoms company put up on Facebook has now been removed. As with anything of this nature, we contacted Econet customer services and they said the promotion was still on even though the promotional material was pulled.

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Econet’s Twitter featuring a banner of the USD promotion last night vs Econet Twitter Today without the USD promotion banner

Now technically Econet wasn’t offering a discount or a premium on ZWL$ airtime sales. You can still buy airtime in ZWL$ if you wish. However, inducing customers to pay for services in USD with the lure of freebies might be a grey area of SI 127 of 2021 that the company doesn’t wasn’t to find itself in.

To get more information about why the promotional material was pulled. We reach out to Econet’s Public Relations department but we haven’t heard back yet…

Not a good week for the Econet Group of companies

Over this past weekend, Econet’s sister company EcoCash was forced to pull its Bank to Wallet promotion after it found itself in the crosshairs of the RBZ and the banks. It looks like when it rains, it pours…

You should also check out:

• EcoCash cancelling promo: a sign that war with RBZ & Banks is far from over
• EcoCash abruptly pulls promotion, not a good look for the mobile money operator
• Econet now giving free data, call time & SMSes if you buy USD airtime