- Demand One Off SMS For Statutory Charges
By Kingsley I. Ilechukwu, Bureau Chief, South West, Nigeria
Aggrieved Telecommunications Services Consumers, under the aegis of the National Association of Telecommunications Subscribers(NATCOMS), have expressed their dissatisfaction with banks for inundating their devices with multiple text messages(SMSes) for one statutory transaction and would want this stopped immediately if the desired sustainability of the telecommunications industry is to be achieved.
NATCOMS spoke through its President, Chief Deolu Ogunbanjo, Wednesday morning in an exclusive interview with our correspondent. “There is an unpleasant development that the banks are currently promoting which our members are complaining about. It is about multiple short message services. They are currently flooding us with multiple messages for statutory transactions and we think that while it is our right to be informed, we want them to inform us reasonably,” Chief Ogunbanjo stated.
According to the NATCOMS helmsman, its members are demanding that banks should send us only one SMS for one statutory transaction instead of sending us multiple SMSes that end up enriching their coffers and that of the telcos.
Chief Ogunbanjo appealed to the Bankers Committee to quickly look into this and save his members from being ripped off of their hard-earned monies as well as suffering unmitigated harassment.
Said he: “Our members are not only complaining about the unchecked rip off from the banks. They are complaining also about the multiple messages on the same transaction and are saying being advised to opt out is not the solution.
“We call on the Nigerian Communications Commission(NCC) to rein in on the banks through the Central Bank of Nigeria(CBN) in order to save us from undue charges and harassment. Three(3) SMSes for the same transaction are not acceptable by us. That is the situation we currently find ourselves and this must be correctly in the interest of industrial peace, harmony and improved economic development.”
