In preparation for the 2023 annual membership invoicing, AFRINIC organised a webinar on 26th October 2022 to engage with its members, through their registered billing contacts.
The objective was to raise awareness of the billing timeline and address some recurring issues. The webinar focussed on the following:
- Membership & the Registration Service Agreement (RSA)
- AFRINIC Billing Schedule
- Challenges and Mitigations
- Demo - Navigating MyAFRINIC Portal for billing and contact information
The goal is to ensure a secure and accessible Internet for sustainable digital growth in Africa.
Timely receipt of the annual membership fees is crucial for maintaining AFRINIC operations and other strategic initiatives and goals since AFRINIC rely on these as well as the IP resource assignment/allocation fees.
Registration Service Agreement
The Registration Service Agreement (RSA) is the contract that legally binds a resource member with AFRINIC. The agreement constitutes a legal, valid and binding obligation towards the set of specified terms and conditions of service.
All AFRINIC resource members have a signed Registration Service Agreement for accessing services and support.
During the webinar, our aim was to increase awareness of the billing process and minimise these gaps. Section 5 of the RSA outline the “Fee and Payment” as follows:
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As a condition precedent to AFRINIC's provision of the Services, The Applicant shall pay all applicable fees in accordance with the schedule of fees (the “Fee schedule”) as currently published on the website.
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All fees paid by The Applicant to AFRINIC are non-refundable.
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The Applicant shall pay AFRINIC all applicable fees as set forth in the Fee schedule, prior to AFRINIC providing The Applicant with its requested allocation/ assignment of number resources. The Applicant shall also pay the applicable renewal Membership fees, if any, as set forth in the Fee schedule, within thirty (30) days after AFRINIC has invoiced the Applicant on regular billing period as set in the Fee schedule. If, for any reason, The Applicant does not pay any applicable fee, AFRINIC shall have the right to: (1) revoke the number resources previously allocated and/or previously assigned, or (2) terminate this Agreement.
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AFRINIC will have the right from time to time to change the amount of the fees or institute new fees relating to the services but such changes will only take effect upon the renewal of the Services by The Applicant.
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AFRINIC commits to publish fee schedule changes at least 30 days before its application.
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AFRINIC shall apply a late penalty charge of a maximum of 15% of the applicable renewal membership fee in the event that such fee remains unpaid thirty (30) days after the invoice date.
To make it short and straightforward, it was discussed and broken down as follows:
- The first part referred to the "Fees Schedule", which can be found on our website and contains all relevant costs.
- The last part covered the following:
- It indicates that an applicant or a Member shall pay the applicable renewal membership fees within 30 days of the invoice date.
- If the member does not pay applicable fees for any reason, AFRINIC shall have the right to:
- terminate the agreement and revoke the number resources previously allocated and/or previously assigned
- AFRINIC shall apply a late penalty charge of a maximum of 15% of the applicable renewal membership fee if such fee remains unpaid thirty (30) days after the invoice date.
It can be noted that the agreement has specific clauses which determine expected actions from the members and the respective consequences. So, where AFRINIC has exhausted all options to receive the payment, termination of the agreement follows. This entails the revocation of the IP Number resources.
Consequently, technical and operational challenges for those who still use these IP resources would manifest in different ways, including but not limited to; traffic routing issues due to various kinds of traffic filtering mechanisms such as the RPKI and BOGON, email rejections due to no reverse DNS delegation, and there could also be reputational loss due to unaccepted technical practices and poor customer experience.
However, AFRINIC is committed to help and ensuring that our members are aware of what needs to be done and avoid such situations. It is of utmost importance that resource members know the billing timelines and the detailed implications.
Billing Timeline
The billing schedule is another important element for resource members, which was covered in the webinar. Figure 1 is a graphical representation of the billing timeline.
Figure 1
The billing timeline runs from the 1st of November to the 31st of October. It's a 12-month timeline with some important dates.
The annual invoice Membership Fee is issued and sent by automated email during the first week of November. Invoices are issued well in advance in order to allow members, more than sufficient time to settle the fee. And, at the same time, to enjoy the benefit of the Early Settlement Discount.
To benefit from the Early Settle Discount, members must pay in full the annual membership fee invoices before or on 31 December. Members are advised not to deduct the discount when making the payment, and upon receipt of full payment, the Early Settlement discount is applied to the next annual membership invoice.
important dates in the billing schedule
31 Dec
Payment received on or before 31st of December, qualify for 5% discount
31 Dec
31 Jan
Payment received by 31st January
No Late Payment Penalty
28 Feb
Payment received by 28th February
No Late Payment Penalty
28 Feb
Important dates for late Penalty Fee
31 Mar
Payment received by 31st March
5% Late Payment Penalty
31 Mar
30 Apr
Payment received by 30th April
10% Late Payment Penalty
Payment received After 30th April
15% Late Payment Penalty
Closure Process
On the 1st of June, a list of unpaid membership fee invoices is compiled. All members with unpaid membership fee invoices are added to the closure list, and the team initiates the closure process.
- The closure process begins with following up with members by email and phone calls
- After Follow-up, final notices are sent to all members in bad standing, and members are allowed 30 days to settle any outstanding amount
- And after 30 days, resource reclamation and termination of the agreement begin.
Challenges and Mitigations
Obsolete information
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One of the main issues is a lack of up-to-date contacts in the AFRINIC database. This can happen due to changes in roles within a member's organisation or even when an employee leaves the organisation. Consequently, it leads to unattended or undelivered emails.
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When members are changing names and physical addresses, this can happen due to corporate rebranding or acquisitions, or mergers. This may lead to undelivered documents
AFRINIC encourages members whose current information is inconsistent to contact us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for the necessary updates.
MyAfrinic Portal Demo
The last part of the webinar covered a demo which covered some features on the AFRINIC member's portal.
The how-to-use were detailed for the following:
AFRINIC would like to thank all the members who participated in the AFRINIC Billing Webinar. We shall inform you of other upcoming webinars on our key activities during the year.
The how-to-use were detailed for the following:
- The billing preferences
- Check and understand the membership status
- View the summary statement
- Download an invoice and the statement of account
- The members were walked through the process of paying online
- Lastly, we demonstrated how to validate the organisation and contact details
AFRINIC would like to thank all the members who participated in the AFRINIC Billing Webinar. We shall inform you of other upcoming webinars on our key activities during the year.
