Bangladesh Bank has suspended all kind of mobile financial services in the run-up to the 11th general election.
All MFS providers have been asked to keep their services suspended from 5:00pm on December 28 through to 5:00pm on December 30, according to a notice from the central bank yesterday.
However, individual transactions of up to Tk 5,000 can be allowed from 5:00pm on December 29 through to 5:00pm on December 30.
The decision was taken following instructions from the election commission, the notice said.
MFS has progressively become an essential part of rural lifestyle, so the move is likely to affect people in those areas.
The daily average mobile transaction through the platform in November was Tk 1,050.91 crore, up 0.3 percent from October, the central bank data shows.
The total monthly transactions declined 2.9 percent to Tk 31,527 crore in November from the previous month.
Despite high election expenditure, cash withdrawals and deposits from the mobile wallets also declined.
Deposits declined 5.3 percent to Tk 12,578 crore in November and withdrawals 2.1 percent to Tk 11,945 crore. At the end of November, the total number of MFS accounts stood at 6.70 crore. Currently, 18 banks are providing MFS service across the country.
