USSD Controversy: Nigerians Frown At The New CBN Policy

Michael Ogunemefun:

Following the announcement made on Tuesday by the Nigerian apex Bank, CBN that effective instantly, Nigerians using the Unstructured Supplementary Service Data services will now be charged N6.98 for every transaction.

This have made Nigerians take to their social media to condemn the policy, describing is as extortion and that Nigerians have already been burdened with several bank charges.

Lamenting the new charges, a tweep, @zeezis, wrote, “CBN imposes ₦7 fee on every USSD transaction. This Nigerian government will always find every possible means to extort its citizens. At this point, only God can save us.”

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Pointing to the fact that majority of those who use USSD services may be unaware of the development, another Twitter user, @dimejey, stated, “N6.98 on every USSD transfer? Come to think of it, majority of the people that use USSD are the ones that have no access to smart phones. Sad thing is they might never know about the new charges.”

@first_ladyship also drew attention to the already depressing economic statistics in the country. “23.18 million Nigerians are unemployed — NBS. Inflation hits 17.33%, highest in 4 years. CBN imposes N7 USSD transaction fee on Nigerians. Stats coming out from Nigeria every day, will send the faint-hearted into coma,” the user wrote.

@novieverest stated, “These guys don’t care about Nigerians. The telecommunication companies complained of not being paid by banks, money that Nigerians have been paying and banks have been posting excess annual profit. What does CBN do? Ask us to pay extra to cover for money owed to the companies.”