Tanzania to pilot end of airtime scratch cards from 1 January 2027

The Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority (TCRA) will begin phasing out physical airtime scratch cards with a pilot from 1 January 2027, according to a public notice it issued on 8 October 2026, Citizen Digital reported on 9 October.

The pilot covers Dar es Salaam and selected districts in Dodoma, Arusha, Mwanza and Mbeya, Citizen Digital reported. A date for a nationwide phase-out will be announced later.

The regulator began a public awareness campaign on 1 October 2026, according to the same report, as Tanzania moves towards a cashless economy.

According to Citizen Digital, users will be able to buy airtime through mobile money (USSD codes or apps), mobile money agents, bank ATMs, banking agents and other authorised digital platforms.

Citizen Digital reported that TCRA said the change is meant to promote digital financial services, make recharging more convenient and reduce the environmental impact of producing, distributing and disposing of physical cards. Consumers were urged to use up any vouchers they hold before the pilot starts and to learn how digital recharge works.

The plan had appeared earlier in the government's budget. Finance Minister Khamis Mussa Omar announced, while presenting the 2026/27 budget to Parliament, that TCRA would phase out recharge scratch vouchers in urban areas, the Daily News reported on 11 June 2026. Pilot areas would guide a nationwide rollout, the paper reported.

The Daily News quoted the minister as calling the measures "part of a wider strategy to reduce cash usage in the economy". The paper reported that the government cited efficiency, stronger revenue collection, curbs on money laundering and lower cash-handling costs as reasons for the shift.

The budget also set out a push for digital payments more widely. According to the Daily News, digital payments will be required from 2026/27 in sectors including transport, shopping malls, fuel stations, hotels and restaurants, and payments at all levels of education from pre-primary to university will go digital.

The Daily News reported that the Tanzania Instant Payment System recorded 651 million transactions in 2025, up from 453 million in 2024.