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Kenya is introducing tighter controls on app-based parcel deliveries, requiring platforms including Uber, Bolt, Glovo and Little to identify senders and recipients and record declared parcel contents from September 20, 2026.
The new requirements are being introduced by the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) as part of efforts to strengthen oversight of the country’s rapidly expanding digital courier market and prevent delivery platforms from being exploited to transport prohibited goods.
Under the new licensing conditions, courier-hailing platforms will be required to verify the identities of senders and recipients, record what customers declare to be inside their parcels and retain the information for regulatory purposes.
The records must be made available to the CA or other authorised government agencies when requested.
Security Drives Parcel Tracking Rules
The new framework is primarily aimed at preventing app-based delivery services from becoming channels for moving illegal or dangerous items, including firearms and narcotics.
However, the regulations do not require riders to routinely open every package before accepting it.
Instead, riders are expected to verify the declared contents without necessarily opening the parcel. A package may be opened where there is a reasonable suspicion that it contains prohibited items or when directed to do so by an official of the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA).
Riders will also have the authority to reject packages they consider suspicious or unsafe and report such cases to the police.
Customers Face Greater Accountability
For customers, the regulations mean parcel deliveries will become more traceable.
Senders will need to provide information about what their packages contain, while platforms will maintain records linking the parcel to both the sender and recipient.
The increased documentation could give regulators and law-enforcement agencies greater visibility into goods moving through Kenya’s digital delivery ecosystem.
At the same time, the framework introduces additional protections for consumers using courier-hailing services.
Tracking and Compensation Required
The new rules require platforms to provide real-time parcel tracking and ensure that customers can identify the rider handling their delivery.
Customers may also be entitled to compensation when parcels are lost, delayed or damaged, subject to the applicable conditions.
However, users must raise complaints within 90 days to qualify under the compensation provisions.
The combination of tracking, rider identification and compensation requirements is intended to make app-based delivery services more accountable while giving consumers greater visibility over their shipments.
Kenya Creates Dedicated Courier-Hailing Licence
The changes follow Kenya’s decision in July 2026 to introduce a dedicated 10-year Courier Hailing Service Provider licence for digital platforms that connect customers with courier providers.
The move reflects the rapid growth of app-based logistics and the changing structure of Kenya’s courier industry.
Before the dedicated licence was introduced, platforms such as Uber, Bolt and Little operated their courier businesses under the country’s broader National Courier Operator framework, while Glovo had already established a substantial delivery operation.
The new licensing category gives regulators a more specific framework for overseeing technology companies that facilitate courier services through digital platforms.
Digital Commerce Increases Regulatory Pressure
The expansion of e-commerce and social commerce has made delivery platforms increasingly important to Kenya’s digital economy.
Small businesses and online sellers rely heavily on app-based logistics to connect products with customers, making courier platforms an important link between digital transactions and the physical movement of goods.
That growing role also gives regulators an opportunity to monitor goods moving through the digital economy.
By requiring platforms to record parcel information, the government can potentially improve its ability to trace shipments connected to criminal activity or prohibited goods.
Data Protection Questions Remain
The new requirements also raise questions around the handling of customer information.
Platforms will collect and retain details about senders, recipients and parcel contents, creating additional responsibilities around the security and use of that information.
How long those records will be stored, who can access them and how government requests will interact with Kenya’s existing data-protection requirements will therefore become important issues as the rules take effect.
For delivery companies, the changes are likely to introduce additional compliance obligations and operational costs.
For consumers, meanwhile, the convenience of ordering a rider through an app will increasingly come with greater documentation.
From September 20, sending a package through Kenya’s major delivery platforms will no longer be simply a transaction between a customer and a rider. It will also become a traceable digital record designed to give regulators greater oversight of goods moving through the country’s growing app-based courier economy.
