…says new charging model yet to become effective
MTN Nigeria has clarified its position on the contentious charge for Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) access charge to the end user. The telecom operator, which controls 37.20% market share, came under intense criticism after sending short messages to subscribers to notify them of impending charge on USSD.
Nigeria’s telecom regulators, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), and the banking regulator, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), both came out with directives disapproving such a charge.
In fact, the Communications and Digital Economy minister, Dr. Isa Ali Pantami, issued a statement directing the NCC to stop the charge.
But in a statement signed by Uto Ukpanah, Company Secretary of MTN Nigeria, the company said it was open to discussions with stakeholders to find a common ground for th benefit of the consumer.
“With this in mind, it is imperative for all parties to approach the table and engage constructively towards a solution, putting the consumer at the fore of all decisions,” MTN Nigeria stated.
The statement reads further:
“We at MTN approach every day with one primary objective – finding ways to make our customers lives a little easier; which is why we will focus on what really matters, our customers.
“They are the reason we made transparency and simplicity central to the recent drawn-out engagements with the banks over USSD access charges and how they should be applied.
“Following consultation with industry stakeholders, customer feedback and media reports related to the message notifying our customers of upcoming changes in our charging model for access to banking services via the USSD channel, we wish to confirm that the new charging model has not gone into effect.
“The situation has made it necessary to restate that MTN Nigeria, in line with our company policy will always be transparent in our dealings with customers, the industry and relevant regulatory bodies.
“The SMS notification to our customers is reflective of this commitment and was sent after formal requests received from individual banks as well as the Body of Bank CEOs to implement end-user billing – a billing methodology where the customer is directly charged USSD access fees irrespective of the service charges that the bank may subsequently apply to their bank account.
“It should be noted that the banks had up-till now been on a corporate billing plan – where a corporate client, the provider of the service that is accessed through the USSD channel (in this case the bank), pays the access fees at a wholesale price.
“We believe the costs associated with USSD banking services should be charged to the consumer only once – as with other USSD based services we provide, which we believe has been adequately provisioned for within existing Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) guidelines.
“It is in fact in line with the National Financial Inclusion Strategy of the Federal Government that we resisted the calls for end-user billing. We relented only after exhausting avenues of engagement with the banks in pursuit of a model that enabled a single charge.
“We believe separate charges by the banks and telecoms companies are an unnecessary burden on the consumer especially the target group that the National Financial Inclusion Strategy is aimed at.”
The telecom operator added that “the banks have been and still are our esteemed customers and valued partners,” saying it was looking forward “to collaborating with them and other stakeholders and will be glad to implement the decisions approved by our Regulators.”