On Tuesday, M-Pesa went down. No transaction was taking place. Kenyans were desperate and they did not know what to do. Safaricom had scheduled maintenance for their M-Pesa platform that left many Kenyans unaware. Everything stopped.
After a few hours of being offline, M-Pesa services were restored. But a great lesson was learned that day; M-Pesa is powerful and it holds the economy of the country. Without M-Pesa, all key economic sectors come to a standstill. M-Pesa should be protected.
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Then on Thursday, something strange happened. Safaricom was sending to M-Pesa money between 20 and 100 shillings as an offer for the inconvenience that was caused. This was the first-ever gesture from a brand in Kenya however small.
This little gesture got me wondering. What if all brands did this? What if we had a law in place that compelled brands to compensate customers if there was an abrupt interruption of services inconveniencing millions of customers?
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This also left me thinking about Kenya Power and Lighting Company (KPLC). How many time has the country faced a nationwide blackout courtesy of Kenya Power? How many times have businesses in Kenya made massive losses because of blackouts?
What if, in the event of a blackout that comes without notice, Kenya Power is made to compensate customers with tokens or a reduction of price in the next billing? This will be a great move to increase and create responsibility at Kenya Power.
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Also, what if this was replicated across banks? How many time have people been left frustrated and stranded because the banking systems have failed? What if the banks were made to compensate this? Perhaps this will be the only way to create some discipline among these businesses.