Court Orders MTN Uganda to Pay Shs. 11.3 Billion to VAS Garage for Data Breach ,unfair Practices
MTN Uganda head office
The Commercial Division of Uganda’s High Court has ruled against MTN Uganda, ordering the telecom giant to pay VAS Garage Limited Shs. 11.3 billion in damages for breach of contract, unfair competition, and unlawful deletion of proprietary subscriber data.
Justice Stephen Mubiru delivered the landmark judgment on April 21, 2025, concluding a decade-long legal battle.
In 2014, VAS Garage—a licensed Value-Added Services (VAS) provider—signed a Content Provision Agreement (CPA) with MTN Uganda to deliver mobile content via approved shortcodes. Under the deal, MTN handled billing and remitted 40% of revenue to VAS Garage, which invested Shs. 300 million in promotions and built a subscriber database.
However, in 2015, MTN abruptly erased this database, citing a Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) “Do Not Disturb” (DND) directive to curb spam.
Justice Mubiru ruled that MTN’s deletion of the database violated the CPA and was unsupported by UCC authorization. The court dismissed MTN’s claims that the data belonged solely to the telecom, affirming VAS Garage’s proprietary rights due to its commercial investment.
The judge also condemned MTN for anti-competitive conduct, noting it expelled third-party providers like VAS Garage while favoring its own platform, MTN Play.
MTN’s defense—arguing the case was resolved via UCC processes and time-barred—was rejected. The court emphasized that UCC lacks authority to enforce monetary awards, and with the Uganda Communications Tribunal inactive, the High Court had jurisdiction.
Total damages amount to Shs. 11,328,293,339, excluding 19% annual interest until payment. MTN must also cover full legal costs.
The judgment reinforces protections for third-party VAS providers against dominant telecom operators misusing subscriber data.
It underscores the legal limits of telecoms in handling partner databases and sets a precedent for fair competition in Uganda’s digital content industry.
By press time, MTN Uganda had not responded to the ruling.
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