The Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) Building. PHOTO/Ronny TV/courtesy/ (CA) has introduced new safeguards for the deactivation and recycling of inactive mobile numbers, changing what happens to a phone number after it has remained unused for a prolonged period.
The rules are particularly significant because mobile numbers are no longer used only for making calls and sending messages. The CA says they have become important to financial services, online authentication and, “to a large extent, acting as digital identities.”
The new framework follows a High Court ruling delivered on March 19, 2026, after a constitutional petition challenged the deactivation and reassignment of inactive mobile numbers.
So, what do the new SIM recycling rules mean for Kenyan mobile users?
Why are inactive phone numbers recycled?
The CA says numbering, naming, addressing and identification resources play a critical role in distinguishing services, systems and subscribers.
Because the numbering space is finite, international guidelines encourage countries to reclaim numbers that are no longer in use.
The authority cites International Telecommunication Union (ITU) guidelines on number recycling, which provide for the management of inactive numbers and their eventual reassignment to new subscribers.
The CA says the principle is based on “maximum utilization”, with recycling of unused or dormant numbers helping to prevent wastage of limited numbering resources.
The problem, however, is that an old phone number may remain connected to a person’s financial services, online accounts or other digital services long after the subscriber stops actively using it.
How long before your number can be recycled?
The CA’s new procedures introduce several stages before an inactive number can eventually be recycled.
According to the authority, service providers must use available contacts collected during the Know Your Customer (KYC) process to contact subscribers whose numbers have remained continuously inactive for more than three months.
“The contact and notification are done for a period of three months,” the CA says.
The guidelines also require service providers to issue a generic public notice for numbers that have been inactive for more than six months and are intended for deactivation and recycling.
The notice must provide a USSD mechanism through which members of the public can check the status of their numbers.
This means subscribers who are unsure whether their inactive numbers are affected have a mechanism to establish their status before the numbers are recycled.
What if you are sick, travelling or in prison?
The rules recognise that inactivity does not necessarily mean a subscriber has abandoned a number.
A person may be unable to use their phone because of prolonged illness, imprisonment, travel or another form of incapacity.
Under the new safeguards, a subscriber or a person legally authorised to act on their behalf can request that the number be protected from recycling.
The CA calls this process “whitelisting”.
“A subscriber or a person legally authorised to act on behalf of a subscriber” can request whitelisting where the subscriber is likely to remain unable to use the number within six months.
There are also specific provisions for prisoners.
The Commissioner of Prisons is required to notify service providers about numbers belonging to inmates incarcerated for more than six months.
The CA says the protection covers people who are “sick, incarcerated, in remand, or deceased,” provided the authorised person seeking whitelisting provides evidence.
Why is phone number recycling a security issue?
The biggest concern is what happens when a number previously used by one person is assigned to someone else.
The CA says mobile numbers have become valuable in financial services and digital authentication, meaning a number can be linked to much more than communication.
The authority notes that numbering resources have become “of value in financial services, digital authentication for online services, and, to a large extent, acting as digital identities.”
That creates a privacy concern when an old number is given to a new subscriber.
The CA says the new safeguards require service providers to attempt to contact the former subscriber through alternative channels, including email, social media accounts and alternative numbers provided during KYC.
If those efforts fail, the data associated with the number must be delinked and archived.
“Upon unsuccessful contact, all the data associated with the number are delinked, archived, and retained in line with any applicable laws of data retention,” the authority says.
The objective is to prevent information belonging to a former subscriber from being exposed to the person who eventually receives the recycled number.
What triggered the new rules?
The safeguards followed Constitutional Petition No. E290 of 2024, filed at the Milimani High Court on June 10, 2024.
The petition sought, among other things, a declaration that a mobile number constitutes a person’s digital identity, similar to a national ID, passport or driving licence.
In its March 19, 2026 ruling, the court directed the State Law Office, in consultation with relevant stakeholders, to put measures in place to prevent “unfettered deactivation” and subsequent arbitrary reassignment or recycling of inactive mobile numbers.
The CA subsequently developed the “Procedures and technical safeguards for deactivation and recycling of inactive mobile numbers, 2026”.
The procedures identify triggers for recycling, provide notification periods, create electronic means for the public to check the status of numbers and allow numbers to be whitelisted where necessary.
What should mobile users do?
The new rules make it important for subscribers to remain aware of the status of mobile numbers they have stopped using.
Subscribers who expect to be unable to use their numbers for extended periods can seek whitelisting, while those unsure about the status of an inactive number can use the mechanism provided in the public notice to check whether it is affected.
The CA says it will “continually monitor the implementation” of the safeguards and improve them in line with technological developments, legal and regulatory requirements and consumer interests.
The key change is that SIM recycling is no longer presented simply as a matter of reclaiming an unused number. Under the new framework, telecom operators must take defined steps to notify subscribers, provide avenues for checking number status and protect numbers in specific circumstances.
For Kenyan consumers, that matters because losing an old phone number can now mean more than losing a way to make calls—it can affect a digital identity connected to financial and online services.
