LILONGWE-(MaraviPost-The National Advocacy Platform (NAP) has issued a powerful call for urgent accountability and decisive regulatory action as Malawi’s mobile and internet services continue to deteriorate at an alarming rate.

In a strongly worded statement released in Lilongwe on 15 November 2025 and signed by NAP Chairperson Benedicto Kondowe and National Coordinator Baxton Nkhoma,it expressed deep concern over the worsening collapse of network quality, a crisis that has persisted for nearly a year without meaningful intervention from authorities or service providers.

According to NAP, Malawians have endured erratic connectivity, dropped calls, slow and unreliable internet access and the premature expiry of data bundles often before customers fully utilise them.

Despite this prolonged decline in service delivery, data and voice tariffs have remained unchanged.

NAP describes this as “daylight robbery” and “an affront to consumer rights,” noting that calls for improvement from civil society, businesses and citizens have been repeatedly ignored.

The organisation warns that the crisis is doing severe damage to the country’s economy and digital development.

Businesses are experiencing reduced productivity, students are struggling to access online learning platforms and professionals who rely on digital communication are increasingly frustrated.

The unreliability of mobile networks is also disrupting access to essential services in health, education and finance, threatening Malawi’s progress toward a digitally driven economy.

One of the most alarming developments, NAP notes, is the chaos within digital financial transactions.

Bank-to Airtel Money transfers are frequently reversed within seconds, while other transactions fail with unexplained error messages indicating that a recipient’s account has exceeded the transfer limit even when the account has a zero balance.

In many cases, funds deducted during failed transactions are not refunded, leaving consumers stranded and without recourse.

NAP is calling on the Reserve Bank of Malawi (RBM) to launch an urgent audit of mobile linked financial transactions and compel mobile operators to refund and compensate all affected customers.

The organisation stresses that such failures represent a serious violation of consumer trust and financial integrity.

Citing the Communications Act of 2017, NAP highlights several legal obligations placed on MACRA and mobile service providers.

These include providing affordable communication services, ensuring consumer protection, and complying with technical and performance standards.

The Act also empowers MACRA to suspend or revoke licences for failure to meet these obligations. NAP argues that the sustained breakdown in service quality constitutes a clear breach of these legal requirements and warrants immediate regulatory action.

To restore accountability and protect consumers, NAP is urging Government and MACRA to take several immediate steps.

These include reconstituting the MACRA Board to strengthen oversight, conducting an independent audit of service quality, publishing performance and compliance reports, enforcing penalties on operators that fail to meet minimum standards and ensuring refunds for unused or prematurely expired data bundles.

NAP stresses that reliable communication is not a luxury but a constitutional right grounded in Section 37 of Malawi’s Constitution, which guarantees access to information.

Persistent service failures, the organisation says, undermine this right and block citizens from meaningful participation in the country’s economic and social life.

The platform further warns that continued inaction from regulators weakens the very safeguards designed to protect the public from exploitative business practices.

It calls on MACRA to firmly defend the interests of Malawians who have “long suffered under the weight of bullying practices from network providers.”

The Maravi Post