Still facing trouble in doing the day-to-day transaction, because of the sudden demonetization of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 currency notes by Indian Government? To enable easy access to banking services for the majority of Indian citizens especially in the rural part of the country, the telecom watchdog Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has lowered the tariff of USSD-based mobile banking.
The telecom regulator has reduced the tariff for the usage of USSD-based mobile banking from Rs 1.50 to Rs 0.50. In addition, the regulator has also increased the number of stages of USSD session from five to eight. That means you can interact with USSD-based mobile banking service for eight times before getting charged again.
This reduced tariff will definitely help users who are still using feature phones and have limited internet connectivity. There is no restriction on the type of handset you use and telecom operator you subscribed on. The USSD-based mobile banking can be accessed even via a feature phone or a high-end smartphone. The USSD-based mobile banking is done through National Unified USSD Platform (NUUP). Using it you can do various banking transactions like balance inquiry, account statement, money transfer, and value added services like Mobile/DTH recharge etc. You can start the USSD-based mobile banking session by dialing *99# .
TRAI USSD-based mobile banking statement
- Connect to USSD-based mobile banking by dialing ‘*99#’.
- Reduced the ceiling tariff of Rs 1.50 per USSD session for USSD-based mobile banking to Rs 0.50 per USSD session.
- Up to 8 steps in one USSD session from the current limit of five.
- Free USSD-based mobile banking on Airtel, Vodafone India, and Idea Cellular subscribers.
To help you out further, India’s top telecom operators including Airtel, Vodafone India, and Idea Cellular has announced complete waiver of USSD-based mobile banking charges for their mobile subscribers. So, you won’t even charged the Rs 0.50 set by TRAI. The scheme is valid only until 31st December 2016 and it may be extended further.