How much does a POTRAZ data controller licence cost in Zimbabwe?
Short answer
A POTRAZ data controller licence costs between USD 50 and USD 2,500 a year, depending on how many people's data you hold, plus a USD 30 application fee for Tiers 2 to 4. The fees are fixed in the Second Schedule of SI 155 of 2024.
What the law says
The Second Schedule reads, in substance: application fee for Tier 2, 3 or 4 licences, USD 30; Tier 1 licence, USD 50; Tier 2 licence, USD 300; Tier 3 licence, USD 500; Tier 4 licence, USD 2,500. The First Schedule defines the tiers: Tier 1, 50 to 1,000 data subjects; Tier 2, 1,001 to 100,000; Tier 3, 100,001 to 500,000; Tier 4, more than 500,000. The licence is "valid for a period of 12 months subject to compliance with the Act, these regulations and licence conditions" and the same fee applies on renewal.
Example
A Tier 1 guest lodge in Victoria Falls with 600 past guests and 20 staff pays USD 50 a year. A Tier 2 medical aid society with 45,000 members pays USD 330 in year one (USD 300 plus USD 30) and USD 300 each year after. A Tier 4 mobile money operator with millions of users pays USD 2,530 in year one. For most SMEs the licence is cheaper than their annual domain and hosting bill.
In practice
Budget the fee annually alongside your other licences, and remember that the fee is only one part of the cost of compliance; the DPO certification (USD 1,250 per person) is usually the larger first-year item.
General information, not legal advice. This page covers Zimbabwean law only: the Cyber and Data Protection Act [Chapter 12:07], Statutory Instrument 155 of 2024 and POTRAZ’s 2025 Implementation Guidelines. It is not the EU GDPR and not South Africa’s POPIA. Fees, fine levels and deadlines are as gazetted and published by POTRAZ at 9 September 2026; check the latest POTRAZ notices before acting. Businesses named in examples are fictional.