Many thanks Fred and Grace for contributing to the discussion thread. We welcome more input from colleagues as we move along. A while back i came across information that COFEK was working on a Consumer protection act similar to the South African one. It would be good to know where they reached or got stuck. The Communications Authority had also launched a series of campaigns to protect consumers which seem to have slowed down after the organization re-branded. However it would be usefull to know the impact such initiatives made in the sector as well. It is my hope that we can get an update from COFEK on the progress made with the bill. Thank you Best Regards On 7/22/15, fredrick Wahome <frewah85@gmail.com> wrote:

Unfortunately those in the leadership will just draft something when it deems appropriate time for them without involving the stakeholders n end users.

The document will just sit at CA shelves and life goes on. For now am concentrating on educating users how to be safe. On Jul 22, 2015 11:46 AM, "Grace Mutung'u (Bomu) via Security" < security@lists.my.co.ke> wrote:

...

Hi Barrack, Thank you for the the questions. @ Fred on the issue of taxation for the Internet economy....

I was listening to a representative from Jumia the other day on radio. By her presentation, the volume of merchandise moved per day is quite high and this business is really catching on in Kenya. If I remember they had an increase of 900%in turnover in Africa. While they warn that the high sales have not yet translated into profit, the whole business model is interesting and at some point the government will want a share of the profits. The same will happen to the cloud economy and other Internet businesses, if what happened in Chicago is anything to go by.

However, more needs to be done on consumer education and protection. For example, when one buys a phone online and it is faulty, should the online company collect, repair or replace the phone or should the consumer take the phone to the service centre? Consumer protection can either be done through self regulation where the online companies make very good policies on dealing with consumer complaints. Otherwise , the companies cannot be responsive, then the law/its enforcement must be strengthened.

Regards,

2015-07-22 7:42 GMT+03:00 Barrack Otieno via kictanet < kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke>:

...

Listers,

The rise of the Internet economy in Kenya has been defined by different strokes. On one hand there are small entrepreneurs doing their side hustles from offices, small shops and car boots. They advertise their merchandise and services on social media and in a rudimentary form, some deliver merchandise in backpacks from door to door. Enter the bigger players who have large websites from where goods and services are purchased. Their business models differ. We have companies like OLX, Cheki that provide a platform for users to interact. They make their money from advertising. Others such as Rupu and Jumia offer services and merchandise at reduced prices.

Questions

1. Does an adequate legal framework exist to protect consumers from fraud, deficient goods and services and to assure consumer rights in the budding Internet economy? 2. Since the bigger players in the sector are doing well, is time ripe for the local Internet economy to be taxed to raise money for government services? 3. Should other services in the Internet economy such as cloud services, international online purchases etc be taxed? 4. As a stakeholder , what are your recommendations on how the Internet economy can be improved?

The floor is open, feel free to continue contributing to the discussions of the previous days.

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