MTN Customers Urged to Exercise Caution Before Upgrading Legacy Packages

MTN Customers Urged to Exercise Caution Before Upgrading Legacy Packages Members of the public and valued MTN subscribers are strongly cautioned against upgrading their mobile contracts if they are currently on Legacy Packages, as doing so may result in substantial loss of value without adequate disclosure from the service provider.

Numerous complaints have recently emerged from MTN customers who, after requesting a simple handset upgrade, were unknowingly or misleadingly migrated to the “Made for Business S” package. This package is comparable in price to the Legacy Package but offers drastically reduced benefits, including significantly fewer call minutes, data, and SMS allocations.

When customers raise complaints about this downgrade, they are often told that the Legacy Package has been discontinued and cannot be reinstated. In response, MTN may offer the “Made for Business M+” package at a cost of R839 as a “goodwill gesture”, which includes 200 additional minutes and 5GB of data, bringing the total to 400 minutes and 8GB of data. This offer, however, remains far inferior to the standard features of the original Legacy Packages, which typically included:

1,000–1,050 voice minutes

25–27.5 GB of data

200 SMSs

At a cost of approximately R499 per month

Customers who have accepted upgrades in good faith are now bound to less favorable contract terms, despite having clearly communicated that their intention was limited to a device upgrade — not a package change.

This practice, whether systemic or incidental, raises serious concerns regarding transparency, informed consent, and fair commercial conduct, and may place MTN at odds with consumer protection principles under South African law.

Affected customers are encouraged to:

Review all contract documents carefully before signing;

Seek written confirmation that their existing package benefits will remain unchanged;

Request full disclosure of the implications of any upgrade;

Lodge complaints with the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) or the Consumer Goods and Services Ombudsman (CGSO) if misled or disadvantaged by these package changes.

We call upon MTN to re-evaluate this approach and prioritize fairness, transparency, and good faith in its dealings with loyal customers who have remained on Legacy Packages due to the exceptional value they offer.