CA Mandates One-Year Warranty on All Device Sales

NAIROBI, Kenya, July 24 – Communications Authority of Kenya now requires every mobile phone, tablet and laptop sold in the country to carry a minimum 12-month warranty with a return policy, backed by fines of 0.2% of annual turnover and a floor of Sh500,000 for breaches.

The Communications Equipment Vendor Class Licence guidelines extend to set-top boxes, remote devices and tracking equipment, and oblige sellers to provide repairs and other after-sales support for the full warranty period.

Online vendors must publish a physical address, email and telephone number for complaints, while all sellers must issue receipts carrying the seller’s name, device model, serial number and warranty period.

Advertising claims on features, performance and network compatibility must be accurate and verifiable, and vendors may source only from licensed importers and sell only devices that are type-approved, type-accepted or exempted by the regulator.

The rules take direct aim at refurbished handsets and laptops imported from the UAE, the US and the UK, where dealers have offered cover as short as one month.

Such grey-market devices carry region-specific manufacturer warranties that authorised service centres in Kenya do not honour, leaving retailers to issue shop guarantees of 30 to 90 days.

Packaging on every refurbished device must now be permanently labelled as such in a form visible to buyers, and retailers must supply guidance on environmentally sound disposal.

Vendors are required to keep sale and warranty records for at least three years and grant CA officers access to premises, systems and stock for inspections, audits or investigations.

The regime moves Kenya toward European standards, where the EU mandates a two-year legal guarantee covering defect remedies at no cost to the buyer, with Spain and Portugal setting three years.