Kenya's Challa Communications has been instructed by Safaricom to refund sh10.6 million to customers who were billed more than once to check their Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) results last week.
According to a report from Kachwanya, following complaints on social media, Challa Communications confirmed the technical challenge that affected at least 424,011 requests, each request costing the user sh25.
Challa Communications, licensed by the Communications Authority of Kenya, was contracted by the Kenya National Examinations Council to provide the service via the Safaricom network.
Candidates, guardians, and schools that had presented candidates to sit the KCPE were asked to send their index numbers through a text message to the short code 22252 to receive their results.
Safaricom said it initiated a full investigation with a view to ensuring that all customers were able to use the service and were not over-charged for their use.
A statement from Safaricom, signed by Joe Ogutu, director of strategy reads, "We have instructed Challa Communications to refund all of the affected customers starting this afternoon, targeting those who queried the system more than once, as well as those who may have been billed without receiving any response."
"We regret any inconvenience caused to our customers and want to assure them that we are dedicated to ensuring that they continue to enjoy the best possible experience on our network. Our full attention remains focused on resolving this issue for the continued benefit of our subscribers and we shall extend our support to Challa Communications to help resolve any future technical issues that caused this incident."
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