Safaricom Asks Man Who Lamented Over Automatic Bonga Points Deduction To Settle His Okoa Jahazi Debt

• Safaricom introduced an auto-recovery service for subscribers defaulting on Okoa Jahazi loan airtime
• The service works in a way that defaulters who fail to settle their Okoa Jahazi debt within 15 days have their Bonga points deducted automatically
• On Wednesday, August 2, the telecommunications company responded to a Kenyan who lamented over his Bonga points deduction

A Kenyan man has expressed his disappointment after giant telecommunications company Safaricom deducted his Bonga points.

Fred Musyoki was seemingly irritated after he found out the telco automatically deducted his Bonga points.

While lamenting on Facebook, he asked Safaricom to explain why it did so without his authority.

"What's happening? You deducted my Bonga points without permission. Where did you get my PIN," he posed.

Safaricom asks Musyoki to settle Okoa Jahazi

In its explanation, the company asked Musyoki to repay his Okoa Jahazi loan to avoid a similar incident.

"We're sorry; please repay your Okoa Jahazi on time to avoid automatic Bonga points deduction," Safaricom stated.

In response to a question by TUKO.co.ke, the company said defaulters are deducted if they fail to settle the debt within 15 days.

The company indicated 10 Bonga points are deducted for every KSh 3 unpaid.

"This is an automatic Okoa recovery payment method to offset delayed Okoa loans (over 15 days). The Bonga conversion rate is; 10 bonga points is equal to Ksh 3," it said.

Safaricom's auto-recovery service

In July, Safaricom introduced an auto-recovery service for subscribers defaulting on Okoa Jahazi airtime.

The telecommunications firm said customers who fail to repay their airtime debt on time will have their loyalty Bonga points deducted.

It confirmed that the auto-recovery service will take effect after 15 days of failing to repay the loan.

"If you default to pay Okoa Jahazi, auto-recovery happens from the 15th day after borrowing, and your Bonga points are deducted," Safaricom stated.

Safaricom rules out Bonga points expiry

In January, Safaricom said Kenyans who are subscribed to the Bonga programme can still access their points accrued before 2019.

It dismissed reports showing it had introduced a three-year expiry period on the loyalty service.

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

Safaricom's Niokolee service

At the same time, Safaricom introduced a new service allowing its Kenyan customers to request airtime from friends and family.

The service dubbed Niokolee is available to pre-pay and post-pay subscribers.

It will allow customers with insufficient credit to request airtime from KSh 10 to KSh 100.