Lipisha is a Kenyan company that uses various platforms to automate mobile payments, allowing businesses to collect, automate and integrate payments from customers and clients using mobile money. One of these platforms was Safaricom’s M-Pesa, at least until November 12th, when access was cut off for Bitpesa, for whom Safaricom explicitly asked Lipisha not to continue serving.
The termination was carried out without notice, with Lipisha notified via SMS after the fact. This prompted Lipisha to take Safaricom to court. Certifying the matter as urgent, High Court Judge Joseph Onguto added that Safaricom would have to provide grounds for this termination.
Bitpesa is one of Lipisha’s largest clients, and so they were who was joined as a co-plaintiff in the suit. The two firms blamed Safaricom for using its monopoly on the mobile money industry to intimidate Lipisha into ceasing its services on M-Pesa. Particularly affected is Bitpesa, which is a bitcoin trading platform. On Bitpesa, users can convert bitcoin into Kenya Shillings and use the M-Pesa platform to send this money to any user with an account.
Safaricom has been sued for allegedly using intimidation to suspend the two firms’ services.
Article Continuation:
http://techcabal.com/2015/11/24/lipisha-safaricom-lawsuit/
