It is now an offense to send a person a text message of a commercial nature without their consent in Tanzania. Sending SMSs containing advertisements or commercial services will attract a penalty of a fine of not less that Tsh10 million (About Kshs 480,000) or jail for one year or both. This is according to the Electronic Transactions Act of 2015 Tanzania.
Tanzania has put more stringent measures on its SMS services since last year’s general election which saw the current President, John Magufuli, emerge as the winner.
Promotional and Betting SMSs are common in Tanzania, just like in Kenya. However, Vodacom, Airtel Tanzania and Tigo, the country’s mobile service providers, will now have to reign in on the delivery of such messages which many citizens have complained to be a nuisance given their bulk nature.