The Association of Comms & Technology has abandoned its legal challenge against home affairs minister Leon Schreiber’s controversial hike in identity verification fees, with member companies opting to negotiate individual agreements with the department instead.
ACT filed the high court application in January after Schreiber increased the fee for accessing the national population register database from 15c to R10/query – a rise of up to 6 500% that affects telecoms operators’ compliance with Rica and banks’ customer verification processes.
“We have withdrawn, as our members have elected to directly enter into agreements with home affairs,” ACT CEO Nomvuyiso Batyi told TechCentral on Tuesday.
The withdrawal, formalised with the high court on 8 April, prompted a victory lap from Schreiber, who said on Tuesday in a statement that mobile network operators had “reached out to work with the department” on digital transformation initiatives, including the roll-out of digital IDs.
“The upgrades to the [online verification service], including the fee corrections, have empowered home affairs to replace a system on the verge of collapse with a world-class verification service,” Schreiber said.
The minister claimed the fee increase had improved system uptime from 50% to 99%, with verification queries now returning results “in mere seconds”. A cheaper R1 batch verification option for off-peak use has also been introduced, he said.
Rica requirement
ACT’s original court challenge, reported by TechCentral in January, argued that Schreiber had failed to consult meaningfully with affected industries before implementing the new fee structure in July 2025.
The association’s members – Cell C, Liquid Intelligent Technologies, MTN South Africa, Rain, Vodacom South Africa and Telkom – are required by Rica legislation to verify customer identities when registering Sim cards. ACT warned the fee hike would push up costs for millions of South Africans already under financial pressure.
Read: Telecoms industry drags home affairs minister to court
Digital bank TymeBank – now GoTyme Bank – was among the first to challenge the increase, with co-founder Coen Jonker describing it as a “regressive tax on the most vulnerable South Africans”. The bank relies on real-time verification for customer applications processed through kiosks in retail partner outlets.
The war of words between industry and the department escalated last year when home affairs accused companies of extracting “enormous profits” from underpriced access to citizens’ personal data while leaving taxpayers to subsidise system maintenance.
Schreiber has described the dispute’s resolution as opening the door to collaboration on digital transformation. He highlighted a new partnership with banks that has enabled smart ID services at 110 branch locations within a month of launch.
“The withdrawal of this court challenge creates an opportunity for telecommunications companies to take their rightful place as key stakeholders in our digital transformation journey,” he said of ACT’s decision.
Read: Capitec, home affairs launch self-service smart ID machines
With Rica compliance non-negotiable for mobile operators and the legal challenge’s prospects unclear, individual negotiations may have offered more certainty than protracted litigation.
The fee structure remains a contentious issue across industries that rely on identity verification, but the withdrawal removes the most high-profile challenge to Schreiber’s pricing model for accessing state-held personal data. – © 2026 NewsCentral Media
Get breaking news from TechCentral on WhatsApp. Sign up here.