- Telecom users volition soon wage for USSD services done airtime, arsenic banks and telecom operators see moving towards implementing an end-user billing system
- This alteration aims to code the USSD indebtedness issue, with charges being deducted straight from customers' airtime alternatively of their slope accounts
- The modulation is expected to forestall aboriginal indebtedness accumulation, but it requires strategy upgrades and transparency to debar overcharging customers
Legit.ng writer Victor Enengedi has implicit a decade's acquisition covering Energy, MSMEs, Technology and the Stock Market.
Telecom users volition soon beryllium charged for accessing Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD), with deductions made from their airtime.
Reports bespeak that discussions betwixt deposit money banks (DMBs) and telecom operators are successful precocious stages to instrumentality a nonstop billing strategy for end-users.

Source: UGC
Under this system, customers volition beryllium billed straight for USSD use, with charges applied to their mobile relationship equilibrium (either airtime oregon nonstop billing), irrespective of immoderate further fees banks whitethorn charge.
This marks a displacement from the erstwhile model, wherever banks were billed for USSD usage.
Gbenga Adebayo, the Chairman of the Association of Licensed Telecom Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), informed The Guardian that talks are ongoing, with details being refined to payment subscribers, telecom companies, and deposit wealth banks (DMBs).
Adebayo explained that the end-user billing system, which banks person been pushing for, could assistance forestall the buildup of debts, arsenic seen successful the ongoing disputes betwixt banks and telecom operators.
Adebayo said:
“So, we person present commenced treatment to migrate to End-User billing without disruption to services by subscribers. Today, erstwhile you bash USSD, the banks complaint you and debit your relationship (Debit alert for the transfer). When the discussions are completed, banks volition not debit again, but it volition spell straight from your airtime. Instead of the banks taking the wealth from your account, it volition spell from your airtime."Adebayo stated that discussions person begun, but determination is simply a modulation process that volition beryllium mutually agreed upon by telecom operators and banks.
He noted that if the statement is reached, it could resoluteness the contented of USSD-related debts, thing banks person been advocating for.
He besides emphasised that, successful summation to the expected agreement, it volition beryllium important to upgrade systems and guarantee transparency successful operations to forestall customers from being charged for services they did not use.
In a September 16, 2019, missive to ALTON, the Body of Banks’ Chief Executive Officers (BOBCEO) projected implementing end-user billing for USSD services, pursuing industry standards.
The banks opposed sharing USSD gross with telecom operators, citing concerns implicit a projected N4.50 per 20-second complaint by telcos, which they argued would summation costs by 450%.
However, the connection was rejected by telcos owed to method concerns, with telcos advocating for firm billing instead.
The nonaccomplishment to resoluteness the contented led to the accumulation of USSD debts, which are present nether a betterment process.
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Source: Legit.ng