Scratch Cards Tanzania 2027: TCRA Starts Phasing Out Airtime Vouchers on 1 January

The scratch cards Tanzania change is a phase-out, not a new tax or licence. Customers in pilot areas move to digital top-up through mobile money, agents, banks and operator channels. Shops, distributors and employers that buy or sell physical vouchers need to run down stock and switch channels before 1 January 2027.

What changed on 8 October 2026

The Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority (TCRA) published a public notice titled Cessation of Airtime Scratch Cards Usage and Promotion of Digital Airtime Recharge. It carries reference PN010/2026, is dated 8 October 2026 and is signed by Eng. Peter P. Mwasalyanda, Director General. TCRA lists it on its public notices page, with a Swahili entry for the same notice.

The notice runs to six numbered sections. Its main points are:

• Purpose: support a cashless, digital economy and cut the production, distribution and disposal of physical cards.
• Awareness: TCRA and the mobile network operators (MNOs) run public awareness from 1 October 2026 through TV, radio, social media, SMS and customer care.
• Pilot: a pilot programme for phasing out airtime scratch cards starts on 1 January 2027 in five regions.
• Unused vouchers: subscribers in pilot areas who still hold unused vouchers after 1 January 2027 must contact their operator for assistance and activation.
• National date: the nationwide cut-off date will be announced later.

The notice does not cite the Act or regulation it relies on. It sets no penalty and says nothing about dealers, distributors or refunds.

Where the policy came from

The step was announced in the 2026/27 budget speech read in Dodoma on 11 June 2026 by the Minister for Finance, Ambassador Khamis Mussa Omar. Paragraph 62, on page 42, says the Government, through TCRA, will remove hand-scratched phone vouchers, starting in urban areas as a pilot before other areas follow. Paragraph 80(ii), on page 62, proposes stopping the distribution and use of scratch-card airtime vouchers in urban areas with digital payment infrastructure.

Daily News reported the measure on budget day, as part of a wider cash-reduction drive.

Which areas are in the scratch cards Tanzania pilot?

Section 2 of the notice lists the pilot "regions and districts". The table follows the notice's own wording.

Two press details differ from the notice. Global Publishers and The Rio Times, both on 9 October 2026, list Arusha without Meru. Both also describe 1 October as the start of a trial. The signed notice includes Meru and says 1 October starts awareness, with the pilot phase-out from 1 January. This article follows the notice.

Who is affected by the phase-out?

The notice speaks to subscribers, operators and their partners. The commercial effect runs along the whole airtime chain:

• Mobile network operators: Vodacom, Airtel, Halotel, Yas and TTCL must provide digital channels and help voucher holders. Yas is the former Tigo, which The Citizen reported rebranded in 2024.
• Distributors and dealers: their contracts with operators govern stock, returns and credit.
• Retail shops, kiosks and supermarkets: outlets that earn a margin and foot traffic from cards.
• Employers: firms that give cards as an airtime allowance to drivers or field staff.
• Tourism operators: lodges and tour firms that sell cards to visitors with local SIMs.

Businesses outside the pilot areas are not bound by the 1 January date, but a later national date will reach them.

What replaces scratch cards?

Section 3 of the notice names the digital recharge channels. They are already in use across the country.

For a shop, the practical replacement is an e-top-up float or mobile money agency. Our guide to becoming a mobile money agent or merchant sets out that route.

What happens to unused card stock?

This is the question the notice leaves most open. Section 4 deals with subscribers, not traders. Subscribers in pilot areas are encouraged to use their vouchers before 1 January 2027. Holders of unused vouchers after that date must contact their operator through customer care or authorised service points for assistance and activation.

That wording points to help with activation, not cancellation. Global Publishers and The Rio Times reported that unused cards stop working on 1 January 2027. The signed notice does not say this.

The notice says nothing about cards held by distributors and shops. Whether an operator will take back, swap or credit unsold stock depends on the distribution contract. Ask in writing now, not in January. A dispute with a distributor or operator over stock, credit notes or returns is a contract matter for an advocate.

How does this fit the cashless policy?

The phase-out is one part of the 2026/27 cash-reduction programme. The other main part is legal and already in force. The Electronic Transactions (Mandatory Electronic Payments for Specified Transactions) Order, 2026, Government Notice No. 158C, made under section 13(2) of the Electronic Transactions Act, Cap. 442, took effect on 1 July 2026. EY's tax alert of 30 June 2026 lists the covered sectors: transport, malls, filling stations, education, hospitality and tourism, property and vehicles, and cooperatives.

Our post on the mandatory electronic payments order explains who must accept digital payment. The Order is a Government Notice with legal force. The scratch card step is a regulator's public notice that sets a pilot. A Dar es Salaam lodge may face both.

The same move has happened nearby. Malawi's regulator, MACRA, announced a staged phase-out on 6 May 2024, running to 31 December 2024.

Business licence, TRA and EFD points for airtime sellers

The notice changes how airtime is sold, not the licence or tax rules. Four points matter for dealers and shops.

Business licence

Shops commonly sell airtime under their trading licence issued under the Business Licensing Act, Cap. 101 R.E. 2023. A City or Municipal retail shop licence is TZS 70,000 principal and TZS 40,000 subsidiary (F0869); a kiosk is TZS 60,000 and TZS 40,000 (BLB210). The notice creates no new licence. Check the licence still describes the business at renewal time.

Government Notice 487A of 2025 closes mobile money transfers to non-citizens (register NEW-08-14). A foreign-owned supermarket should take advice before adding mobile money agency.

Receipts and EFDs

Persons with annual turnover of TZS 11 million or more must use an electronic fiscal device (register NEW-02-24, Tax Administration Act, Cap. 438). The channel change does not alter the receipt duty. See our guides on EFD receipt rules and who needs an EFD machine. How to receipt a commission-based e-top-up sale is a point to confirm with TRA.

Income tax on margins and commissions

Airtime margin or commission is business income. A resident individual with a small shop may fall under presumptive tax. Turnover up to TZS 4 million pays nil (F0189), and the band from TZS 11 million to 200 million pays 4% of turnover (F0193). Whether "turnover" means the full face value of airtime sold or only the commission depends on how the seller contracts. Confirm that with TRA before filing. Our guide to presumptive tax for small businesses sets out the bands.

Commission paid to a mobile money transfer agent carries 10% withholding tax (F0227, Income Tax Act, Cap. 332, s.106(1)(d)). A shop that becomes an agent will see that deduction on its commission statements.

Taxes inside the airtime price

Excise duty of 17% on electronic communication services (F0250, Cap. 147, s.126(7)) attaches to the operator's service, whichever channel sells the airtime. The council service levy of 0.25% of turnover (F0544) continues for licensed traders above TZS 4 million, as our note on the service levy explains.

Worked example: a Dar retailer with TZS 3,000,000 of card stock

A shop in Kinondoni holds airtime cards with a face value of TZS 3,000,000 on 9 October 2026. The figures are illustrative. The margins are assumptions, not operator rates.

• Card margin: the shop buys cards at 5% below face value, so the stock cost TZS 2,850,000 and carries a margin of TZS 150,000.
• E-top-up commission: assumed at 3% of the airtime sold.
• Selling period: 12 weeks from 12 October to 31 December 2026.

In Scenario A, TZS 3,000,000 divided by TZS 350,000 is about 8.6 weeks, so stock clears in early December with the full TZS 150,000 margin. In Scenario B, TZS 900,000 of face value remains, which cost TZS 855,000 (95% of 900,000). In Scenario C, the extra order costs TZS 950,000 and leaves TZS 1,805,000 of cost on the shelf. That cost is at risk until the operator or distributor says how it will treat unsold cards.

Now compare the channels. At TZS 350,000 a week, a 5% card margin earns TZS 17,500 and a 3% e-top-up commission earns TZS 10,500. The gap is TZS 7,000 a week, or TZS 364,000 over 52 weeks. Against that, the shop frees about TZS 2,850,000 held in stock. Use the rates in your own contracts before you decide.

Does the phase-out apply in Zanzibar?

Not yet. No Zanzibar region or district is named in the pilot list, and the notice does not mention Zanzibar. The Rio Times also observes that Zanzibar is not named and that its treatment is not stated.

Zanzibar is not outside TCRA's reach. Section 2(1) of the TCRA Act, Cap. 172 R.E. 2023 applies the Act to Mainland Tanzania and Tanzania Zanzibar, excluding only broadcasting and content. The nationwide date is therefore likely to reach Zanzibar. That is Zatra's reading, not the notice's.

Zanzibar lodges can keep selling cards for now. Our comparison of tourism set-up in Zanzibar and the Mainland covers the wider split.

What is settled and what is not?

The table sorts each point by how firm it is.

What to do now

1. Count your stock. Record the face value of cards on hand by operator and by denomination, with purchase invoices.
2. Stop open-ended reorders. Buy only what you can sell before 1 January 2027 if you trade in a pilot area.
3. Write to your distributor. Ask how unsold cards will be treated after 1 January 2027, and keep the reply on file.
4. Set up a digital channel. Open an e-top-up float or apply for mobile money agency with the operators your customers use.
5. Move staff allowances. Employers should switch airtime allowances to e-top-up or wallet transfers and keep a payment record for each person.
6. Check licence and receipts. Confirm your business licence covers the activity and that each sale produces an EFD receipt where the law requires one.
7. Route disputes to an advocate. A distributor demand, a refused return or a contract claim over stock needs legal advice before you reply.

Key dates

How Zatra helps

Our business licensing service checks that a shop's or distributor's licence fits its new activity. Our tax and regulatory compliance service sets up EFD receipting, presumptive tax filings and withholding records for airtime and agency income. Our SME advisory service models the switch. A Senior Advisory Session costs USD 49. Compliance Renewal runs USD 900 to 1,200 a year. Packages are on our pricing page.

Government charges, such as licence fees and taxes, are paid by the client at the official rate against a GePG control number. They stay separate from Zatra's professional fee and are never marked up. TCRA, TRA and the councils decide their own matters. Zatra prepares and coordinates the file; it does not decide or guarantee any authority's outcome. Prosecutions, seizures, disputes and legal opinions go to the advocate on our team.

Sources and status

Accurate as at 9 October 2026. The TCRA notice was read on its official PDF; press reports are attributed.

• Cessation of Airtime Scratch Cards Usage and Promotion of Digital Airtime Recharge, PN010/2026: Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority, 8 Oct 2026. Accessed 9 Oct 2026.
• Public notices: TCRA, listing of 8 Oct 2026. Accessed 9 Oct 2026.
• Kuondoa matumizi ya kadi za kukwangua za muda wa maongezi: TCRA, Swahili entry, 8 Oct 2026. Accessed 9 Oct 2026.
• Hotuba ya Bajeti ya Serikali 2026/27: Ministry of Finance, TRA-hosted, 11 Jun 2026, paragraphs 61, 62 and 80. Accessed 9 Oct 2026.
• Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority Act, Cap. 172 R.E. 2023: TCRA-hosted, ss.2, 40 and 43. Accessed 9 Oct 2026.
• Vocha za kukwangua kusitishwa Januari 1, 2027: Global Publishers, 9 Oct 2026. Accessed 9 Oct 2026.
• Tanzania phases out scratch airtime cards by 1 January: The Rio Times, 9 Oct 2026. Accessed 9 Oct 2026.
• TCRA to phase out mobile phone recharge scratch vouchers: Daily News, 11 Jun 2026. Accessed 9 Oct 2026.
• Tanzania introduces mandatory electronic payment for specific identified transactions: EY Global Tax News, 30 Jun 2026. Accessed 9 Oct 2026.
• Tigo Tanzania rebrands to Yas: The Citizen, 2024. Accessed 9 Oct 2026.
• Malawi phases out physical airtime and data scratch cards: Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority, 6 May 2024. Accessed 9 Oct 2026.

Figures to confirm before you act

• Status of unused cards after 1 January 2027: the notice speaks of assistance and activation; press reports say cards stop working; confirm with your operator
• Treatment of dealer and shop stock: not addressed in the notice; confirm in writing with your distributor or operator
• Licence fees: F0869 and BLB210 from the fee register at 26 September 2026; the council's GePG bill governs
• Tax lines: F0189, F0193, F0227, F0239, F0246, F0250, F0544 and NEW-02-24 at 26 September 2026
• Presumptive tax turnover for airtime: gross face value or commission only; confirm with TRA
• Card margin of 5% and e-top-up commission of 3%: illustrative assumptions, not operator rates
• Mobile money levy: not verified for this article and not used in the example

This article is general information based on official sources available at the date of publication. It is not legal, tax or financial advice. Laws and notices change. Verify with the issuing authority or consult Zatra before acting.