Dealers boycott Orange Money
Vendors irate after 50 to
70% commission cuts
Leading mobile money faces
vendor walk-out
Consumers outraged as
services disrupted
Contract talks based on
fairness, mutual benefit - Orange
Orange Money dealers have vowed to continue their service boycott as the mobile money giant scrambles to resolve the dispute over commissions.
The facility is comfortably the country’s largest mobile money service with 895,824 subscriptions as at March this year, or 53% of the market share, which handles billions of pula in transactions each year.
The service is run by the mobile company through a wide network of dealers across the country who include retail shops and ordinary street vendors. The dealers receive a commission for each transaction they handle, amounts that become quite significant due to the volume of transactions generated daily by Orange Money’s numbers of subscribers.
This week, however, many dealers across the country dropped the service after Orange Money reportedly cut their commissions by between 50 and 70%. Dealers who spoke to Mmegi said the commission cut was taken without warning and they had been forced to stop offering the service as it was no longer viable.
“Orange Money used to give good rates but the people are not making any profits at the moment.
“We woke up one day and found the changes in commission, then later saw an SMS from Orange about the changes.
“There was no communication or consultation at all and when we contacted them about the changes they said they are still working on it. “We don’t even know what that means,” said one dealer on condition of anonymity.
The dealer explained that prior to the latest changes when customers would cash out P100, the dealer would receive a commission of P3.
“At the current rates that amount gives us P1.26 in commission. When a customer would deposit P110, we would get a commission of P1.40 but now it’s P0.46,” the dealer said. The service disruption means rather than use a nearby dealer, Orange Money subscribers have to travel sometimes out of their villages to access services such as depositing and sending money.
Another street vendor who trades in the Main Mall said the boycott would continue until a solution is found stressing that there is no point of providing the service “for free”.
“If they do not want to resolve this, they can come and collect their books. We will continue offering other services from their competitors. It is a pity that Orange
Money had more clients than other service providers and we were making ends meet with their commission,” the vendor said.
Mmegi is informed that Orange Money executives are engaged with a major cellphone retailer who is the main interface between the company and hawkers.
In the meantime, the mobile money company has asked its subscribers to access the service through alternative channels such as Orange shops, Botswana Post and digital channels, saying there would be no impact on pricing.
Responding to Mmegi questions on Wednesday, Orange Money officials did not answer questions why the commission was changed, but referred to “routine contract negotiations with our partners”.
“It would be unprofessional of us to get into the details of the negotiations, but suffice to say this is routine practice, and we approach all such engagements with transparency, fairness, best practice and a desire for mutual benefit for all,” the officials said.
Services remain available on other platforms while the company “explores additional avenues during this period,” the officials said.
“We regret the inconvenience this may cause our valued customers across the country, and remain dedicated to ensuring they can conveniently transact with Orange Money across all avenues.
“Thus we are working to resolve the matter with urgency, mindful of any and all sensitivities and due protocols.”