When is the UMRA licence renewal deadline?
Every UMRA Tier 4 licence expires 31 December, with renewal due 90 days before that — here is what that means for planning, sourced from UMRA directly.
The short answer
Every UMRA Tier 4 licence — SACCO, non-deposit-taking microfinance institution, or money lender — expires 31 December of the year it was issued. UMRA requires renewal applications at least 90 days before that expiry, which puts the effective renewal window at roughly 1 October through 31 December each year (UMRA, Regulation service page). There is no separate, different "deadline date" beyond this annual cycle — if your licence was issued this year, it expires this 31 December, full stop.
Why the 90-day figure matters more than the deadline itself
The 90-day requirement means the practical planning deadline is earlier than the calendar year-end most institutions think of first. Waiting until December to start a renewal application already puts an institution past UMRA's stated lead time. See the renewal checklist for what to have ready before the window opens on 1 October.
What if the deadline is missed
UMRA's Tier 4 Microfinance Institutions and Money Lenders Act 2016 makes a valid licence a condition of operating in this regime. The Act and its regulations are the authoritative source on consequences of an expired or unrenewed licence — confirm the specific current treatment with UMRA directly rather than relying on this page for that determination.
This deadline recurs every year
Because 31 December / 1 October is a fixed annual cycle rather than a one-time event, it's included as a recurring entry on the East Africa SACCO Compliance Calendar rather than as a page built around a single date.