Mobile top-up retailers may go on strike for commission hike

The association of mobile phone top-up and banking vendors yesterday threatened to go for a strike if their seven-point demands, including a commission hike, are not met by January.

Some 536,000 vendors would stop providing their services if the demands go unheard, said Md Shafiqur Rahman, president of Bangladesh Mobile Phone Recharge and Banking Association, at a press meet at Dhaka Reporters Unity.

The association demanded the commission for each Tk 1,000 recharge is raised to Tk 100 from the existing Tk 27 and the commission for mobile banking agents is raised to Tk 6 from the existing Tk 4.20 for every Tk 1,000 transacted.

The association had staged a four-day strike for a hike in the recharge commission three years back. The mobile operators did not increase the commission then, but they provided the retailers with some other benefits.

"We need a policy for the top-up and mobile banking agents that needs to be followed strictly," said Rahman.

Only registered vendors should be allowed to run the mobile top-up business and the recently imposed phone recharge ceiling has to be withdrawn, he said.

Around Tk 450 crore is transacted every day through mobile banking while the top-up service handles around Tk 100 crore a day, said Rahman.