KRA and police to access courier records under new Kenya delivery rules

NAIROBI, Kenya — Sending a parcel through an app in Kenya is about to become a more closely monitored transaction.

From September 2026, digital delivery platforms including Uber, Bolt, Glovo and Little will face new requirements to verify parcels and keep electronic records identifying both senders and recipients.

The changes form part of a new regulatory framework by the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) that brings app-based delivery platforms more firmly into the country's formal courier system.

The move could change what customers are asked when they hand over a parcel to a rider.

It also gives government agencies a clearer trail to follow when investigating suspected illicit goods or undeclared commercial activity.

Recent reporting by Business Daily says the records will be available to the CA and the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA), while police agencies will be able to request them.

But there is an important distinction: the rules do not mean police or KRA will automatically have unrestricted access to every customer's delivery history. The records are to be maintained by licensed operators and made available to the relevant authorities when requested under the applicable regulatory framework.

What is changing for customers?

Under Kenya's revised postal and courier framework, operators are required to keep records of postal articles, including electronic transaction records for both the sender and recipient. The rules also require senders to declare parcel contents before an item is accepted where applicable.

That requirement is not entirely new in Kenyan courier regulation.

Existing courier rules already require postal licensees, where applicable, to have senders declare the contents of items before accepting them for delivery. The revised framework extends regulation to newer digital delivery models and gives the CA a dedicated licensing category for courier-hailing platforms.

In practical terms, someone sending a package through an app may increasingly have to provide more information about who is sending it, who is receiving it and what is inside.

The aim is to make it harder to move prohibited goods anonymously.

The rules target a fast-growing delivery economy

The regulatory change comes as Kenyans increasingly use apps to move everything from documents and clothes to food, electronics and goods bought through social media.

For years, much of this activity sat between the traditional courier industry and the technology sector.

The CA has now created a specific category called the Courier Hailing Service Provider licence.

It covers platforms that connect consumers with licensed courier operators and facilitate the collection, movement, handling and delivery of parcels through digital systems.

The licence is valid for 10 years.

Platforms applying for it must pay a Sh5,000 application fee and an initial Sh100,000 licence fee.

They will then pay Sh100,000 a year or 0.4 per cent of gross annual turnover, whichever is higher. A 0.5 per cent Universal Service Levy also applies.

The CA says the new category is intended to bring emerging digital delivery businesses into the regulated courier market rather than leave them outside the traditional licensing structure.

Why KRA is interested

The new rules have implications beyond parcel security.

Online selling has become an important part of Kenya's small-business economy. Social media sellers can now advertise products, receive mobile payments and send goods across the country without maintaining a physical shop.

That convenience also creates challenges for tax authorities trying to identify commercial activity.

Delivery records could provide another source of information when KRA investigates businesses suspected of failing to declare taxable income.

The recent Business Daily report linked the new requirements to efforts to tackle tax evasion as well as the movement of illicit goods.

That does not mean every person sending a parcel through an app is being treated as a trader.

Rather, the new framework gives authorities another trail to follow where there are legitimate reasons to investigate a transaction.

Police will also be able to seek records

Security is another major reason behind the new rules.

Authorities have long faced the challenge of tracking prohibited goods moving through informal transport and delivery networks.

The CA's framework sits alongside existing laws that prohibit the sending of dangerous and other prohibited articles through courier and postal systems.

The revised approach could make investigations easier where a parcel is suspected of containing illegal drugs, firearms or other prohibited goods.

Instead of relying solely on the physical parcel and the rider who delivered it, investigators may be able to establish a transaction trail showing who booked the delivery and who was supposed to receive it.

That could prove particularly important in cases where online marketplaces and social media accounts are used to arrange sales.

Platforms, not just riders, are being regulated

One of the biggest changes is that the CA is not simply regulating individual riders.

The new licence specifically covers the digital platforms that connect customers with courier operators.

The Authority's revised market structure says the courier-hailing category applies to platforms providing specialised digital systems for collection, conveyance, dispatch, handling and delivery of courier articles.

At the same time, the framework retains a separate National Courier Operator licence.

That licence can be issued to individual entities, associations and SACCOs bringing together individual riders or delivery providers. Its initial licence fee is Sh30,000, with an annual fee of Sh30,000 or 0.4 per cent of gross annual turnover, whichever is higher.

The revised framework also recognises independent courier personnel as a separate category under the wider licensing structure.

This means Kenya is moving towards a more layered regulatory system covering the platform, courier operator and, in some cases, the individual delivery worker.

Will riders start opening parcels?

Not necessarily.

The new requirement to record or verify parcel contents should not be confused with a blanket requirement for riders to physically open every package.

Kenya's Information and Communications Act protects the confidentiality of postal articles and generally restricts their opening except in circumstances authorised by law. It also provides specific procedures for dealing with postal articles suspected of containing material connected to an offence.

The rules instead place emphasis on declaration, verification and record-keeping.

That distinction matters for customers concerned about privacy.

The new system is designed to create a record of a delivery transaction. It does not, by itself, mean that a rider can simply open a sealed package whenever they wish.

What happens to customer privacy?

The expanded collection of sender, recipient and parcel information also raises an obvious question: how will the data be protected?

The new framework creates more information that delivery platforms will have to retain and potentially disclose to government agencies.

The CA's own regulatory impact assessment says the revised framework is intended to strengthen consumer protection, improve complaint handling and enhance the safety and security of postal items.

But greater record-keeping also makes responsible handling of customer information important.

Platforms will have to balance regulatory obligations with their responsibilities under Kenya's wider data-protection framework.

For consumers, the practical issue will be knowing what information is collected, why it is collected, how long it is retained and under what circumstances it can be disclosed.

The CA says the wider goal is a formal digital courier market

The regulator's case for the changes goes beyond policing.

Its regulatory impact statement says the review is intended to bring emerging players into the formal postal and courier market, improve consumer protection and encourage competition.

The CA has also argued that recognising courier-hailing platforms could give consumers more choice and improve service standards.

That means the new rules are not simply a crackdown.

They are also an attempt to update regulation for an industry that has changed rapidly because of smartphones, e-commerce and app-based businesses.

The challenge will be ensuring that compliance costs do not push smaller operators out of the market or make delivery services significantly more expensive for consumers.

What customers should expect

For ordinary users, the biggest change is likely to happen at the point where a parcel is booked.

Customers should expect delivery platforms to place greater emphasis on:

Identifying the sender and recipient
Recording parcel transactions electronically
Declaring what a parcel contains
Checking whether items are permitted for carriage
Maintaining records that can be provided to regulators or law-enforcement agencies when legally requested

The CA has already published the new courier market structure and fee schedule on its website.

Recent reports indicate that the new parcel-record requirements will take effect in September, with Kenyans.co.ke reporting September 20, 2026 as the date for the new requirements.

The licensing framework itself, however, has been introduced separately and should not be confused with that later compliance date.

A new chapter for Kenya's delivery economy

For years, a rider collecting a parcel from one Nairobi neighbourhood and delivering it to another could be little more than a few taps on a phone.

The new rules put a regulatory trail behind that transaction.

That could help investigators track illegal goods and give KRA another way of identifying commercial activity.

But it also means customers are entering a more closely documented delivery system.

For Kenya's booming app economy, the message from the regulator is becoming clear:

Digital convenience will increasingly come with formal accountability.