ACT abandons home affairs identity fees lawsuit

South Africa's Association of Comms & Technology (ACT) has dropped its high court challenge against Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber's 6,500% hike in identity verification fees — from 15c to R10 per query. Member companies including MTN, Vodacom, Cell C, and Telkom chose to pursue individual direct agreements with the department instead of continuing litigation. Schreiber claimed victory, stating the fee increase improved system uptime from 50% to 99% and enabled a world-class verification service. The fee hike had been controversial because telecoms operators must verify customer identities under Rica legislation, and banks rely on real-time verification for onboarding. A cheaper R1 batch verification option for off-peak use was also introduced. The dispute's resolution is framed by Schreiber as opening collaboration on digital transformation, including digital IDs and smart ID services at bank branches.