App-based courier platforms such as Uber, Bolt, Glovo and Little will from next month be required to verify and record the contents of customer parcels that the taxman, police and communication watchdog will access.
The Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) has issued new licensing requirements that demand that online courier platforms record the contents of parcels, sender details, and recipient information.
The firms will keep records and provide them to the communications regulator, the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA), and the police upon request as part of ongoing efforts to curb illicit trade in items like drugs and firearms.
Online traders are increasingly using the digital courier to connect with buyers.
Data and digital tools are emerging as weapons in the fight against tax cheats as the State seeks extra revenues to curb its borrowing binge.
“The licensee shall establish and maintain mechanisms to capture and verify the details of the sender and recipient of a postal article, allow senders to declare the contents of a postal article… allow courier agents or requesting licensees to verify the contents of a postal article,” says the fresh licensing conditions, which take effect on September 20.
“The licensee shall maintain records of all postal articles that it has handled and make such records available to the Authority or any competent government agency upon request,” the CA notice adds.
Uber Kenya has sought a national courier operator licence to send parcels and other goods in a diversification plan.
If granted by the CA, the permit that would allow Uber to collect, transport and deliver parcels across the country.
This will place it in direct competition with State-owned Postal Corporation of Kenya, which is struggling to remain afloat in the face of competition and digital disruptions.
Growth in digital commerce has fuelled demand for parcel movement services as more transactions shift from physical stores to online platforms.
Riders are required to screen and verify package contents without opening them, except “where there is suspicion that the postal courier item contains prohibited goods” or where a revenue official or the KRA order its opening.
Globally, shipping and logistics companies like Germany-based DHL and FedEx in the US pass packages through X-ray machines to detect explosives, weapons, and prohibited materials.
For platforms like Uber, drivers or riders have the right to decline a package if it looks unsafe or suspicious, return it to the sender, and report it to the police.
In Kenya, the American ride-hailing firm and its rivals Bolt and Little have in recent years expanded beyond their taxi-hailing businesses into parcel delivery amid rising demand for online shopping, faster package drop-off and food delivery.
Apps such as Glovo have long specialised in this market.
The CA’s new requirements are part of a recently introduced 10-year courier hailing service provider licence for the emerging segment, separating digital delivery platforms’ permits from those of traditional courier operators.
The new permit covers companies offering courier services through digital platforms, whether they operate their own vehicle fleets or outsource motorcycles or vehicles from transport operators.
Previously, the law did not define the legal liabilities of on-demand delivery apps.
Uber and Glovo have banned the delivery of weapons and ammunition, stolen items, cannabis, money and pharmaceutical drugs, unless the pick-up or drop-off point is a pharmacy or hospital.
Bolt has additionally banned all items valued over Sh15,000.
But drivers of ride-hailing firms often treat the packages as personal items and are not aware of their contents.
“The licensee shall prominently display at all its outlets and on its platform, a schedule of prohibited articles,” says the CA.
The new licensing terms also introduce compensation requirements.
Courier firms must compensate customers for lost, delayed or damaged goods within 90 days of a complaint being filed.
Compensation will not apply where the parcel is prohibited under the law, its contents were not declared at acceptance, the recipient has acknowledged receipt of the goods, or where the sender or recipient made a false declaration.
Customers also have the power to verify the identity of the riders handling their parcels, and the companies will be required to track the movement of the parcel in real-time up to delivery.
Digital delivery firms will pay a Sh5,000 licence application fee for the permit, an initial licence fee of Sh100,000, and an annual operating fee of Sh100,000 or 0.4 percent of their gross annual turnover, whichever is higher.
The companies will also pay a universal service levy of 0.5 percent of their annual gross turnover.
