Lagos, May 13, 2023 – Telecom operators have threatened to
disconnect banks defaulting in payment of their debts for Unstructured
Supplementary Service Data (USSD) services amounting to over N120 billion.
The telecom operators, under the aegis of the Association of
Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), gave the threat on
Friday.
In a statement signed by Gbenga Adebayo, its chairman, the group said it had
secured the approval of the National Communications Commission (NCC) to take
such action.
It said that this was because the banks had continued to incur more debts,
without making the commensurate payments, in spite of multiparty effort to
resolve the situation and prevent any negative impact on their services.
It said the multiparty stakeholder effort was led by Prof. Isa Ali Pantami,
the Minister of Communication and Digital Economy, the NCC and the Central Bank
of Nigeria,
The association said that each time some progress was made, the banks would
come up with reasons to take stakeholders several steps back on this matter.
It said they had had protracted disagreements on issues of appropriate USSD
pricing model for financial transactions, transparency of charges, mode of
collection and liability for payment of the outstanding and continuous service
fees.
“It is obvious that the level of debt is unsustainable given the time/value
huge cost of the continuous upgrade and operation of the systems and
infrastructure dedicated to supporting USSD transactions of banks,” it said.
The association stressed that defaulting banks would be disconnected unless
they met their debt obligations. (GBN)
N120bn debt: Telcos threaten to disconnect banks
Lagos, May 13, 2023 – Telecom operators have threatened to
disconnect banks defaulting in payment of their debts for Unstructured
Supplementary Service Data (USSD) services amounting over N120 billion.
The telecom operators, under the aegis of the Association of
Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), gave the threat on
Friday.
In a statement signed by Gbenga Adebayo, its chairman, the group said it had
secured the approval of the National Communications Commission (NCC) to take
such action.
It said that this was because the banks had continued to incur more debts,
without making the commensurate payments, in spite of multiparty effort to
resolve the situation and prevent any negative impact on their services.
It said the multiparty stakeholder effort was led by Prof. Isa Ali Pantami,
the Minister of Communication and Digital Economy, the NCC and the Central Bank
of Nigeria,
The association said that each time some progress was made, the banks would
come up with reasons to take stakeholders several steps back on this matter.
It said they had had protracted disagreements on issues of appropriate USSD
pricing model for financial transactions, transparency of charges, mode of
collection and liability for payment of the outstanding and continuous service
fees.
“It is obvious that the level of debt is unsustainable given the time/value
huge cost of the continuous upgrade and operation of the systems and
infrastructure dedicated to supporting USSD transactions of banks,” it said.
The association stressed that defaulting banks would be disconnected unless
they met their debt obligations. (GBN)
N120bn debt: Telcos threaten to disconnect banks
Lagos, May 13, 2023 – Telecom operators have threatened to
disconnect banks defaulting in payment of their debts for Unstructured
Supplementary Service Data (USSD) services amounting over N120 billion.
The telecom operators, under the aegis of the Association of
Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), gave the threat on
Friday.
In a statement signed by Gbenga Adebayo, its chairman, the group said it had
secured the approval of the National Communications Commission (NCC) to take
such action.
It said that this was because the banks had continued to incur more debts,
without making the commensurate payments, in spite of multiparty effort to
resolve the situation and prevent any negative impact on their services.
It said the multiparty stakeholder effort was led by Prof. Isa Ali Pantami,
the Minister of Communication and Digital Economy, the NCC and the Central Bank
of Nigeria,
The association said that each time some progress was made, the banks would
come up with reasons to take stakeholders several steps back on this matter.
It said they had had protracted disagreements on issues of appropriate USSD
pricing model for financial transactions, transparency of charges, mode of
collection and liability for payment of the outstanding and continuous service
fees.
“It is obvious that the level of debt is unsustainable given the time/value
huge cost of the continuous upgrade and operation of the systems and
infrastructure dedicated to supporting USSD transactions of banks,” it said.
The association stressed that defaulting banks would be disconnected unless
they met their debt obligations. (GBN)
