The official statement of the company Easy Pay on the situation with telecommunications operators

ArmInfo. Easy Pay company, adhering to its principles of transparency, responsibility and priority of public interest, considers it necessary to present its position on the situation with telecommunications operators, which is directly related to the daily payment convenience of hundreds of thousands of citizens.

Recently, the new terms of cooperation presented by the companies Viva Armenia, Team Telecom and Ucom, in particular the requirement for a sharp reduction in commission fees by 40-50 percent, are one-sided in nature and do not correspond to the principles of mutually beneficial cooperation and economic justification.

At the same time, an approach is observed in the information flow, according to which telecommunications services are considered with the logic characteristic of public utilities operating under public regulation. In this context, we consider it necessary to note that utility tariffs are set by state regulatory mechanisms and operate outside the competitive field, while telecommunications operators are private business entities and operate in free market and competitive conditions.

Easy Pay ensures the security and continuity of services through continuous investments in technical reliability, cybersecurity, self-service terminal maintenance, as well as effective management of digital and physical infrastructures. The mentioned factors are objective components of ensuring the quality of payment and settlement services and have a direct impact on the formation of the cost price of the service. At the same time, the peculiarities of payment and settlement services, in particular, the large volume of transactions accompanied by the entry of small coins in the telecommunications sector and, consequently, the intensive circulation of cash, require large operational resources, which should also be taken into account during the formation of economic conditions.

The proposed 40-50 percent reduction in commission fees is not consistent with the current cost and operational structure and has a significant impact on the ability to provide stable and high-quality services. The constructive and compromise approaches presented by Easy Pay, unfortunately, were not agreed upon, as a result of which telecommunications operators unilaterally terminated contractual relations.

The current situation may limit the availability of payments through the infrastructure of Easy Pay for users living in different communities of Armenia, as well as cause additional risks in terms of the possible spread of unregulated shadow intermediary solutions in the market. In order to maintain market balance and a fair competitive environment, Easy Pay has already applied to the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission and the Central Bank of the Republic of Armenia.

The company reaffirms its willingness to continue professional dialogue with all stakeholders and is open to negotiations, convinced that effective cooperation is possible exclusively on the basis of fair economic conditions and the principle of mutual benefit for the benefit of the sustainable development of the payment and settlement system of Armenia and the protection of the interests of citizens.