By Spy Uganda
Top telecommunications company MTN Uganda has issued new guidelines for all customers, agents and dealers which are aimed at preventing the spread of Coronavirus in Uganda.
According to a letter to the Bank of Uganda Director, National Payments Systems Department Unit, by MTN’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Win Vanhelleputte, all clients and dealers are to follow strict guidelines when carrying out transactions.
The aim is to discourage the use of hard cash and encourage Ugandans to use electronic payments when shopping or paying for services.
Here below is the from MTN Uganda CEO Vanhelleputte;
“Dear Sir,
USAGE OF MOBILE MONEY DURING THE CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19) PANDEMIC
COVID-19, a global health and societal emergency is continuing to affect people with outbreaks in all neighbouring countries surrounding Uganda. Most people who get infected experience mild illness and recover but it can be severe for others.
Following a discussion with the Central Bank and some of the escrow partner banks minimising the likelihood of transmission of the Coronavirus by the handling of physical cash, the following emergency tariffs have been proposed to encourage the use of Mobile Money as opposed to the handling of Bank Notes as a precautionary measure.
We propose to implement jointly with Commercial Banks the following precautionary tariffs from Midnight Thursday March 2020 and shall remain in place for Thirty (30) days.
1.There will be no charge for Peer to Peer (P2P) on-net transactions below Uganda Shillings Thirty Thousand (30,000).
2.There will be no charge for the Wallet to Bank (W2B) or Bank to Wallet (B2W) transactions. This is dependent on partnership with Commercial Banks to ensure transactions are zero rated on both the Subscriber Wallet and the Bank Account.
3. There will be no charges for MoMo transactions for customers and merchants.
We request for your support in the coordination of commercial banks with regard to the second proposal, as the financial services industry has a key role in the prevention of this health emergency from turning into a social and economic crisis for households.
We will continue to take whatever coordinated actions necessary to support and adopt other precautionary approaches and generation of other insights to support national efforts.”
