Often times readers and the citizens concerns do not matter to many of us. It appears there is nobody to refer to when is facing problems. I have decided I will not go by the subject matters at times but to put out what bothe ... read full comment
Often times readers and the citizens concerns do not matter to many of us. It appears there is nobody to refer to when is facing problems. I have decided I will not go by the subject matters at times but to put out what bothers me and the general public.
MOBILE TELEPHONY COMPANIES SHOULD BE TRUTHFUL TO GHANAIANS
The Ghanaian people are under siege from the mobile telephony companies with all kinds of attractions behind which are cheating. Most of the companies like MTN, TIGO, AIRTEL and VODAFON GH have attractive packages like the bonuses they offer. But these packages are not what they seem to be without any hidden cost.
My discussion will be centered on MTN which has been my main service provider and which services I am conversant with. The competition in this industry has been very keen with each of the providers trying to be innovative to make it win good market share.
The MTN has of late tried to encourage patrons to recharge their accounts by transfer instead of the scratch card. This I guess has been adopted to reduce the manufacturing cost of the card production. Anytime one recharges a message is sent that we should insist the same amount is granted as the amount paid. This is really difficult to insist because the merchants have different positions. They insist to charge commissions. For instance if one purchases GH¢0.50, the person is credited GH¢0.40 worth of unit.
Again MTN says patrons should not be charged any commission when making deposits but the merchants take commissions when it is a third party transaction. They consider the transaction as transfer of funds. The beneficiary in making withdrawal at the other end is also charged commission automatically; meaning for one transaction double commissions are paid.
In making deposits in the bank whether as third party transaction no commission is charged. I guess the mobile telephony companies are doing similar thing but it is not working as expected. Banks slap charges only on withdrawals which they term COT or bank charges.
I wish to use this opportunity to advise MTN to do its home work properly before they come to the public otherwise they will create confusion between the merchants and patrons or beneficiaries of their services.
There is another irritating transaction which takes part of users units which has not been applied for. It is just an imposition and infringement on the privacy of patrons. An example is Health Tips sent on the short code 1984. This message is sent and one gives up unit amounting to GH¢0.16 without approval.I personally have sent text for the cessation of the message but it continues to be sent.
I want to call on the Regulator, the NCA and the Ministry of Communications to ensure innocent and unsuspecting patrons are not short changed in accessing the services. These companies should cease infringing on our privacy by persistently sending messages which have not been subscribed to and billing us.
Often times readers and the citizens concerns do not matter to many of us. It appears there is nobody to refer to when is facing problems. I have decided I will not go by the subject matters at times but to put out what bothe ...
read full comment