Communications minister ends proposed USSD charges on bank transactions by telcos

Minister for Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami has suspended the planned implementation of USSD charges on bank transactions by Mobile Network Operators (MNO) after consultation.

The minister, on Thursday, said on the official Twitter handle of the ministry (@FMoCDE) that he realised that there is no justification for the new tariff and consequently directed its suspension.

Pantami also said any telecom operator that fail to comply will be sanctioned appropriately.

“After receiving briefing about the proposed USSD charges, I realized there was no justification for the new tariff, consequently, I directed its immediate suspension, any telecom operator that violates this directive would be sanctioned appropriately”, he said.

MTN Nigeria had sent out an SMS notify it subscribers of the new USSD charge of N4 for 20 seconds that was supposed to begin by Monday, October 21, 2019.

MTN later sent out a notification, on Thursday, to the Nigerian Stock Exchange, saying it has not commenced the new USSD charge model.

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