The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has prescribed a ceiling tariff of Rs 1.50 per session for mobile banking transactions. The tariff will be effective beginning January 1, 2014.
According to TRAI, the unstructured supplementary service data (USSD) platform used for banking through mobile phone, is a ubiquitous, inexpensive, secure and convenient channel. And therefore, with an aim to encourage financial inclusion and make financial services affordable for masses, the regulatory authority has prescribed ceiling tariff of Rs 1.50 per banking transaction.
TRAI has further stated that the current tariff of Rs three per SMS proved to be a deterrent for mass adoption of mobile banking services. Besides fixing ceiling tariff, TRAI has also increased the maximum number of stages for completion of a banking transaction from two to five.
