To protect consumer interests, the Zambia Information and Communications Technology Authority (ZICTA) has directed Airtel Zambia to compensate customers following a major network outage on February 2, 2025.
Over three hours, the outage disrupted data services in Lusaka and the southern, western, central, and eastern provinces.
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ZICTA orders compensation
ZICTA has ordered Airtel to compensate affected customers with K4,000,000. ZICTA Corporate Affairs Manager Hanford Chaaba confirmed the compensation order, stating that the outage had significantly inconvenienced consumers.
The directive aligns with the Consumer Protection Guidelines. In addition to compensating users, Airtel has been instructed to fast-track upgrades to its network infrastructure, especially at critical data centres, to improve network resilience by February 28, 2025.
They must also implement mechanisms to prevent future outages and strictly adhere to consumer protection guidelines.
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Airtel Zambia network outage
The network outage affected various services, including online taxi services, mobile money transfers and betting platforms. Some customers reported being unable to make calls or use mobile money services.
One customer commented that the compensation of less than K0.40 each for a subscriber base of over 10,000,000 was not severe enough, considering the potential loss of business or employment opportunities.
ZICTA has expressed concern over Airtel’s recurring network disruptions and has urged the company to address the underlying causes of these outages to improve service reliability.
Airtel Zambia, led by Managing Director Hussam Baday, has yet to release an official statement about the compensation or how it will be distributed to affected consumers.