Kenya’s new courier rules put Uber and Bolt parcels on record as regulators tighten oversight

Kenya’s new app-based courier rules will require platforms such as Uber, Bolt, Glovo and Little to verify sender and recipient details, record declared parcel contents and retain delivery records that can be accessed by the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA), Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) and police upon request.

The requirements take effect on September 20, creating a formal regulatory framework for a delivery market that has grown around ride-hailing apps, online sellers and digital commerce.

The change means an Uber or Bolt parcel will generate a more detailed digital record than it does today. That record will connect the sender and recipient to the parcel, its declared contents and its movement through the delivery network, while giving authorities a mechanism to obtain the information when required.

What Kenya’s new courier rules require

The CA’s new licensing conditions require digital courier operators to establish systems that capture and verify the identities of senders and recipients, allow customers to declare what their parcels contain and enable courier agents to verify those declarations.

The rules do not require riders to routinely open every parcel. Packages are to be screened and verified without being opened, except where there is suspicion that a parcel contains prohibited goods or where a revenue official or KRA directs that it be opened.

That distinction is important because the new framework creates a documented chain around a delivery rather than turning every rider into a physical parcel inspector. A customer declares the contents, the platform records the transaction, the delivery can be tracked and suspicious packages can be refused or reported.

Courier operators must also maintain records of all postal articles they handle and make those records available to the CA or another competent government agency upon request.

For an app-based delivery, that potentially creates a record containing the sender, recipient, declared contents and information about the parcel’s movement.

Why KRA has an interest in parcel records

The requirement gives KRA another potential source of information about commerce taking place through digital channels.

An online seller can operate without a conventional shop, advertise products through WhatsApp or Instagram and arrange delivery through a rider on a digital platform. The courier then becomes the physical link between the seller and customer.

Records generated by those deliveries could therefore help authorities understand commercial activity that takes place outside traditional retail channels. KRA’s access to such records could become relevant where there are questions about undeclared commercial activity, prohibited goods or the movement of taxable merchandise.

The rules do not mean KRA will automatically receive every parcel record. The requirement is that operators make their records available to the CA or a competent government agency upon request.

That distinction matters, particularly because the information involved can reveal more than the movement of a package. A courier record can establish who sent something, who received it, what was declared and when the transaction took place.

Online sellers will have to be more careful about declarations

The new framework puts greater responsibility on people using courier platforms to describe what they are sending.

A seller shipping clothes, electronics, cosmetics or other products will be expected to declare the parcel contents accurately. False declarations or failure to declare contents can also affect a customer’s ability to claim compensation if the package is lost or damaged.

The CA requires courier operators to prominently display schedules of prohibited articles on their platforms and at their outlets.

Platforms already have their own restrictions. Uber and Glovo prohibit the delivery of categories including weapons and ammunition, stolen goods and cannabis, alongside restrictions covering certain pharmaceutical products. Bolt also prohibits packages valued above Sh15,000.

The new framework formalises the platform’s responsibility to communicate these restrictions and gives riders a clearer basis for refusing suspicious or unsafe packages.

Where a rider encounters a package that appears unsafe or prohibited, the rules allow it to be declined, returned to the sender and reported to police.

Parcel tracking becomes part of the service

The regulatory changes also introduce new obligations around customer protection.

Customers will be able to verify the identity of the rider handling their parcel, while digital courier platforms will be required to track parcels in real time until delivery.

Courier firms will also have to compensate customers for lost, delayed or damaged goods where a valid complaint is filed within 90 days.

There are exceptions. Compensation will not apply where the parcel contains prohibited goods, its contents were not declared, the recipient acknowledged receipt, or the sender or recipient made a false declaration.

The combination of rider identification, real-time tracking and parcel records gives customers a clearer trail when something goes wrong. It also gives courier operators greater responsibility for maintaining the systems behind each delivery.

Bolt is already preparing riders for the formal courier market

The new CA framework comes as platforms are putting more structure around their delivery businesses.

Bolt recently launched a Recognition of Prior Learning licensing programme with the Mombasa County Government covering 400 delivery riders. The programme is designed to help experienced riders obtain formal qualifications through accredited training and assessment.

Bolt has said its national courier licence gives properly licensed riders access to the wider formal courier economy. The Mombasa initiative therefore provides useful context for the new regulatory framework, particularly as delivery services expand beyond food and into general parcel movement.

Bolt has also expanded its Send parcel service in Mombasa to motorbikes after initially launching the service with cars.

The development illustrates how the courier market is becoming more closely connected to the broader ride-hailing ecosystem. Platforms can use existing networks of riders, customers and digital infrastructure to move goods, but those networks now have to operate within a clearer courier licensing framework.

Uber is seeking a national courier licence

Uber is also moving further into parcel delivery.

The company applied for a national courier operator licence in June that would allow it to collect, transport and deliver parcels across Kenya. If approved, Uber would compete more directly with established courier operators, including the Postal Corporation of Kenya.

The CA has created a separate 10-year Courier Hailing Service Provider licence for digital platforms offering courier services. The framework covers businesses that provide courier services through digital platforms regardless of whether they operate their own vehicles or outsource deliveries to motorcycles and other transport operators.

That is significant because the platform does not necessarily need to own the motorcycle or car carrying the parcel to fall within the regulatory framework. Its digital system is part of the service being regulated.

Platforms will pay a Sh5,000 application fee, an initial licence fee of Sh100,000 and an annual operating fee of Sh100,000 or 0.4 percent of gross annual turnover, whichever is higher. They will also pay a universal service levy of 0.5 percent of annual gross turnover.

The bigger issue is the digital trail

The courier rules raise a broader question about the amount of information being generated around ordinary digital transactions.

A person sending a parcel through an app is creating several data points at once: identity information, recipient information, a description of the goods, the delivery route and the completion of the transaction.

Much of that information exists because the delivery platform needs it to operate the service, but the new rules also require operators to retain records and make them available to government agencies when requested.

This is where the courier framework connects, at a broader level, with Kenya’s debate over internet-meter billing.

The Kenya Information and Communications (Amendment) Bill, 2025, proposes that internet service providers assign subscribers internet meter numbers, record usage and generate bills based on consumption. It is a different regulatory proposal dealing with broadband billing rather than parcel delivery, and the two should not be treated as a single government data system.

But they raise a similar question about digital services: how much activity should private platforms be required to turn into identifiable, structured records, and under what circumstances can public authorities access those records?

In the courier case, the answer is being built around parcel security, consumer protection, licensing and regulatory enforcement. With internet metering, the proposed system would centre on usage measurement and billing.

The common thread is the growing regulatory importance of data generated as Kenyans use digital services. As more commerce, communications and transactions take place through platforms, the records produced by those platforms become useful not only to the companies operating them but also to regulators and government agencies.

That creates benefits for enforcement and accountability, but it also makes questions around data protection, access, retention and security more important.

What changes for Kenyans from September 20?

For someone sending an ordinary parcel, the process may initially look much the same. A rider will still collect the package and deliver it, but the platform will have to capture more information around that transaction and maintain records that can later be retrieved.

Online sellers will need to pay particular attention to accurate declarations and prohibited goods. Riders will have clearer responsibilities when dealing with suspicious packages, while customers will gain greater visibility over who is handling their parcels and where those parcels are during delivery.

For Uber, Bolt, Glovo and Little, compliance will require technology and operating processes capable of linking customers, parcels and riders throughout the delivery cycle.

The CA’s rules therefore go beyond licensing another category of courier operator. They establish a framework in which app-based deliveries leave a documented digital trail, one that can support customer claims, investigations, regulatory oversight and, where lawfully requested, access by government agencies.

As Kenya’s online commerce grows, that trail is likely to become an increasingly important part of how the country regulates the businesses and transactions taking place behind the apps.

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