National Payment Systems (Agents) Regulations, 2021

The National Payment Systems (Agents) Regulations, 2021, made under the National Payment Systems Act, 2020 and published on 5 March 2021, govern the use of agents by licensed payment service providers and electronic money issuers in Uganda. Agent networks are the backbone of mobile money distribution, handling cash-in, cash-out, registration and other services, and these Regulations bring agency arrangements under formal Bank of Uganda (BoU) control. Scope and applicability: the Regulations apply to licensees that wish to provide services through agents and to the agents themselves. They provide for BoU approval of the use of agents, the grant of approval, the appointment of agents, the terms of agency agreements, the responsibilities of licensees, and the principle of agent non-exclusivity. Core obligations: a licensee must obtain the BoU's approval before deploying agents and must enter into a written agency agreement specifying the scope of services, responsibilities, liability allocation, and termination. Critically, agents may not be tied exclusively to a single provider: an agent may provide agency services for two or more approved licensees, provided the agent has entered into a separate agency agreement with each licensee and has the operational capacity to manage transactions for each. Licensees remain fully responsible to customers for the acts and omissions of their agents. The Regulations set eligibility and due-diligence requirements for agents, prescribe permitted and prohibited activities, require clear branding and disclosure, mandate transaction records and AML/CFT compliance at agent level, and require licensees to monitor, train and supervise their agents. Supervision and enforcement: licensees must maintain registers of agents and report to the BoU, which may inspect agent operations. The BoU may direct the termination of non-compliant agents and sanction licensees for failures in agent oversight. By mandating non-exclusivity and placing responsibility on licensees, the Regulations promote competition and interoperability in Uganda's agent ecosystem while protecting consumers. They operate alongside the principal National Payment Systems Regulations, 2021 under the 2020 Act.

1. 1Requires BoU approval before a licensee may provide services through agents
2. 2Mandatory written agency agreements specifying scope, responsibilities, liability and termination
3. 3Agent non-exclusivity: an agent may serve two or more licensees with a separate agreement and capacity for each
4. 4Licensee remains fully liable to customers for acts and omissions of its agents
5. 5Agent eligibility, due diligence, branding/disclosure, record-keeping and AML/CFT obligations
6. 6Licensees must maintain agent registers, monitor, train and supervise agents, and report to the BoU
7. 7BoU may inspect agents, direct termination of non-compliant agents, and sanction licensees for oversight failures