The Association of Communications and Technology (ACT), which represents several South African mobile network operators, has taken legal action against the Department of Home Affairs, over the increased cost of verifying users’ identities.
The department recently increased the fees it charges organisations to access the Home Affairs National Identification System (HANIS) for ID verification.
The increased fees impact telcos, banks and other institutions that use the HANIS application programming interface (API) to verify identity documents.
This verification is a key component of the Financial Intelligence Centre Act, which requires organisations to take steps to counter financial crime like money laundering, fraud, tax evasion, terrorist financing activities and identity theft.
ACT argues that the increased fees could disrupt the ID verification process.