The Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) has issued procedures requiring all mobile network operators to give subscribers at least three months’ notice before deactivating a SIM card and recycling its number.

CA Director General David Mugonyi told the National Assembly Public Petitions Committee that the rules aim to ensure subscribers are adequately informed before the Authority deactivates inactive numbers and reallocates them to new users.

Operators must use all contact details collected during the Know Your Customer (KYC) registration process to notify users whose numbers have been inactive for more than three months.

If a number remains inactive for six months, the operator must issue a public notice of its intention to deactivate and recycle the number, including a USSD code that lets the public check the status of their numbers.

The safeguards were drafted after a March 2026 High Court ruling that ordered the state to prevent unfettered deactivation and arbitrary reassignment of mobile numbers within six months.

The framework allows a number to be "whitelisted" when a subscriber or an authorised representative shows that the number will remain unused for more than six months, for example when the commissioner of prisons notifies operators of inmates serving long sentences.

CA officials stressed that accurate KYC information, including alternative contacts, is essential for the notification process, but noted that some agents and sellers fail to collect these details.

The Authority is reviewing proposals to shift SIM registration from third‑party agents to the mobile network operators themselves to improve data quality.

Committee chair Janet Sitienei raised concerns about vulnerable groups, asking how unclaimed funds on recycled SIMs would be handled and how deceased subscribers would be notified.

The new procedures were required to be operational by 19 September 2026, giving operators a short window to implement the notification, verification and USSD check mechanisms.