Vodacom Lesotho are planning to take the country's regulator to court after it revoked the operators licence on October 8. The Lesotho Telecommunications Authority announced it was revoking the licence because Vodacom Lesotho had not paid a R134 million fine. As a result, Vodacom has launched an urgent High Court application to review the decision and have asked the court to consider setting it aside. The fine was imposed by the regulator as it alleged that Vodacom had been flouting its licence conditions by being in breach of local legislation governing companies. It appears the alleged breach by Vodacom was that they hired an auditing firm owned by the sister-in-law of the operator’s chairman, Matjato Moteane. “We have no option but to seek relief in the courts because the LCA’s decisions imposing an excessive fine as well as the revocation of Vodacom’s operating licence are both erroneous as a matter of law and public policy," said Vodacom Lesotho MD Philip Amoateng said in the statement. "These actions put at risk the country’s telecommunications ecosystem, including financial services platforms such as M-Pesa, and tens of thousands of jobs." Vodacom Lesotho is not the country's biggest operator but this is still a big hit for subscribers and the company itself.
source https://www.techradar.com/news/vodacom-pushes-back-after-lesotho-revokes-licence/
Friday, October 09, 2020
Vodacom pushes back after Lesotho revokes licence
