Primary briefing · Gazette
high impact 55287 · 4122 · 2026-08-31
ICASA mandates routing and zero-rating for nine provincial government service codes
Comment closes
Invalid Date
ICASA General Notice 4122 of 2026, published under Regulation 4(3)(iii) and (iv) of the Numbering Plan Regulations, announces the mandatory designation of nine service codes allocated to provincial government services. After 180 calendar days from publication (approximately 27 February 2027), every electronic communications network service licensee and electronic communications service licensee must route communications to these codes regardless of the originating network. All calls to the codes must be zero-rated, meaning licensees may not charge end-users. Interested parties may submit written representations within 30 working days of publication to ICASA.
Who is affected
Electronic communications network service licenseesElectronic communications service licenseesTelecommunications operators and billing system providersProvincial governments relying on the new service codesTelecoms regulatory and compliance practitioners What this means for practitioners
Assess network routing capability to handle the nine new provincial government service codes across all originating networks
Begin billing and revenue system adjustments to implement zero-rating for calls to these codes before the 180-day deadline (approximately 27 February 2027)
Consider filing written representations with ICASA within 30 working days of 31 August 2026 at ELetlape@icasa.org.za, particularly if the zero-rating obligation raises revenue or technical concerns
Diarise the compliance deadline of approximately 27 February 2027 for mandatory routing and zero-rating