How to claim mobile money of a dead person

Surprisingly, the procedures are none of the above. There is a more lengthy process involved when one wants to claim mobile money of a departed family member.

What happens to the mobile money?
Peter Ntumwa Kalulwe, compliance manager mobile commerce at Airtel Uganda, says there is an internal procedure that caters for claims for balances of either a deceased person or dormant accounts.

“If a person spends three months (consisting of about 90 days) without using their line, the person is removed from the network. Despite the disconnection, we maintain the mobile money and ensure not to re-issue the number to someone else immediately,” Kalulwe says.

After a period of about 180 days, the money is then transferred from one’s account and put in an internal dormant suspense account.
Once the money is in this state, internal clearance has to be done before the money is issued to a particular family member.

Internal clearance involves the following procedures
Phrase Lubega, the general manager mobile financial services at MTN Uganda, says it requires the claimant getting letters of administration fully signed as required from the Administrator General, a death certificate, identification of the new estate manager as per letters of administration, letter from estate manager to MTN (in this particular case) with instructions on the deceased’s line and mobile money wallet.

“Once verified, we then execute the instruction as per administrator’s letter. Submission is through our service centres,” Lubega notes.

All the money is paid out per instruction, or the phone is reassigned to the administrator with the Personal Identification Number (PIN) reset to allow them operate the account.

To supplement more on this process, Tonny Achidria, the public relations officer at Uganda Telecom (UTL), emphasises that a next of kin who has been registered is not automatically entitled to the money on the account of the deceased.

“In instances where money is being claimed, we follow the law. A claimant has to prove that the deceased gave them authority to draw their money, in a will that gives them powers of attorney or administration, Achidria states, adding, “ One cannot just approach a financial institution and claim money from the account of someone who has passed on. They have to go through the due process of getting powers of attorney that enable them to have access to any money that is left behind.”

But because this is money being dealt with, Acidria says there is bound to be contention; for instance, more than one spouse or child claiming for money left on the account.

“We are not in the business of arbitration or taking judgment on who deserves the money. All we need is an instruction from court or the administrator general saying the property of Msente (UTL) that belonged to the deceased, should be given to a particular person,” he emphasises.

Why some people do not claim the mobile money?
There are costs and a lot of paper work involved and probably that is why some people do not claim the money in the long run, says Kalulwe.

“What some people may not know is that after getting a letter of administration, one uses the services of a lawyer to notify members of the general public that they want to claim the property and assets of a deceased family member. Usually, this information is published in the classified section of a newspaper,” he says.

Kalulwe adds that the claimant then has to apply to the National Identification Registration Authority to get a death certificate of the deceased.

“Once you have the certificate and a copy of the newspaper bearing the classified advertisement, then visit the Uganda Registration Services Bureau offices to register the death which will be the official government’s and final say on the matter,” he notes.

Unfortunately to present such claims, one has to visit the head office of particular telecommunication companies.

“At Airtel, we are trying to decentralise with the regional office and service centres to help us forward the claims to head office and once they are received, we ensure to run the information through our legal department in order to avoid cases of fraud before a final decision is taken,” he says.
If the information is verified and it is correct, the money is transferred to the claimant’s account in a period of at most, two working days.

On inquiries

For family members who may want to inquire about the basics such as how much money the deceased had on their account, Kalulwe notes that the claimant has to present an original death certificate at the head office of a particular telecommunication company before the information is availed to them. It is never availed on phone because it is confidential.

What happens to the unclaimed money?

Mobile money is governed by Bank of Uganda through a financial institution.
“As we speak, all the money for depositors is kept in the bank. Therefore, the rules that apply on dormant suspense accounts are the same rules that get trickled down. We rely on the Financial Institutions Act of the banks, 2004 on the treatment of dormant accounts,” Kalulwe says.

Part of the Act states, “any account may be transferred out of the register of dormant accounts if the depositor or, if the depositor is dead, his or her legal representative, makes such request.”