BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 13. A number of systemically important banks in Azerbaijan have decided to raise the tariff for SMS-notification 2.5 times from next month, member of Azerbaijan's Milli Majlis (Parliament) Committee on Economic Policy, Industry and Entrepreneurship Vugar Bayramov said, Trend reports.
"The service, which used to cost 40 qepik (0.24 cents), will cost 1 manat (0.59 cents) from next month. In fact, such an increase means an artificial increase in prices or taking advantage of the sector's position. Because recently not only there has been no increase in communication tariffs, but on the contrary, technological innovations have significantly reduced the cost of sending SMS," he said.
He noted that the Central Bank of Azerbaijan reported about reduction of commissions when cashing out funds from plastic cards through ATMs. This will reduce costs, especially when withdrawing money from ATMs of other banks, which is a positive moment.
"But some banks, making concessions in this service, still try to get more income at the expense of clients, increasing prices in other directions. That is, again, customers' costs for services will remain high," Bayramov said.
"In such a case, the sharp rise in prices for these services cannot be explained from an economic point of view. In this regard, it is very important that the Central Bank investigates the reasons for such a sharp increase in tariffs and take intervention steps in this direction. Perhaps, bringing the SMS service to 1 manat (0.59 cents) may not seem so high in terms of costs, but if we consider the number of customers in systemically important banks, it means quite a big turnover. It is very important to regulate such artificial increase of tariffs within the framework of the principles of economic liberalism," Bayramov noted.
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