Vendors charging customers for credit transfer will be sanctioned – MTN Ghana

Telecommunication giants,MTN, have cautioned its vendors to refrain from taking additional charges from customers who purchase airtime through the Electrical Virtual Distribution (EVD) system.

Despite efforts by the company to operate a digitally robust regime, it’s been reported that some EVD vendors of MTN Ghana charge as much as 15 percent of the amount of credit a customer purchases.

Reacting to the development on Citi Business, General Manager for Regional Sales in the Southern sector Abubakar Mohammed cautioned that vendors who continue to take advantage of customers will face the appropriate sanctions.

“An EVD agent is not supposed to charge a customer any fee. Their margins are incorporated in the airtime they purchase from MTN which is granted them 5 percent already. So, they are not supposed to charge the customer who is buying airtime from them any fee,” he emphasised.

He further explained; “When a customer buys an EVD of GH¢1.00, he is expected to receive the same value. Any value that the customer pays is supposed to receive the same value as their airtime and the customer should insist on ensuring that he gets the same value for what he pays for.”

“If a customer feels that he’s been cheated, we have created avenues that he can report the vendor. Either you call the 100 shortcode and complain, or you can visit any of our MTN service centers and report the vendor. And we will take appropriate action.

“Some of the actions that we take is to engage the vendor to desist from that, and to even block the vendor from performing any business on EVD. So, we are protecting the customer and ensuring that they get value for what they buy,” Mohammed stressed.

Statistics indicate that throughout 2020, only 5 percent of customers used the recharge card option to purchase airtime.