The federal government has
opposed the move of telcos to increase charges on use unstructured
supplementary service data (USSD) channels to access banking services.
Some telecommunications network
service providers had sent notices to their subscribers that with effect from
Monday, USSD will attract extra charges.
“Please note that from Oct 21, we
will charge N4 per 20 seconds for USSD access to banking services. Thank you,”
read a notification MTN sent to customers on Sunday.
Before sending the notice, telcos charged customers per USSD session but
this differed across networks, with the highest being N20 per session.
The new charge would have seen
customers paying N12 for every minute spent on the USSD channel but a few hours
after MTN alerted its subscribers of the development, Isa Pantami, minister of
communications, directed telcos to halt the plan.
“The attention of the federal
ministry of communications has been drawn to the viral text message allegedly
sent by the Mobile Network Operator MTN Niger ia and other Mobile Operators
notifying subscribers of a four naira (N4:00) charge per 20 seconds on USSD
access to banking services from the 21st of October 2019,” he said in a
statement, Uwa Suleiman, spokeswoman of the ministry, issued on his behalf.
“The office of the Honourable
Minister of Communications Dr Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami FNCS, FBCS, FllM is
unaware of this development and has hereby directed the sector regulator, the
Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) ensures the operator suspends such
plans until the Honourable Minister is fully and properly briefed.”
Banking services were introduced
on USSD channels to ensure easier access to banking services.
Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday
Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com