Telecoms Says USSD Charges Is Double Billing

The Association of Telecom Operators of Nigeria has said the directive by banks that customers should pay N4 per for Universal Structural Service Database transactions was equivalent to double billing.
Chairman of ALTON, Gbenga Adebayo, told Economic Confidentialthat customers already pay service charges to use the services rendered by banks.
He said, “Given that the USSD channel has become an established and most preferred channel for the banks especially for the banked population, we state that asking the customer to pay for the USSD is akin to requesting a customer to pay a bank’s landlord access fees prior to gaining access to banking premises.
“Why will the banks charge customers and not share the cost with the operators and you don’t expect the operators to charge customers?
“Banks continue to take the money without giving anything to the operators.”
Adebayo notes that telcos had only started the end-user billing system following a cease in the payment of corporate funded USSD maintenance fees.
The Nigeria Communications commission shares the sentiments of the telcos as it on Tuesday ordered an immediate suspension of end-user billing for financial transactions through the USSD channel by all telecom operators.
Spokesperson for the institution, Dr Henry Nkemadu, believes consumers already pay service charge to banks for financial transactions carried out through the USSD channels, and should include the cost of use of operators’ critical network resources.

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