SMS Charity in Effect

Everyone of us could not imagine life without various gadgets and the World Wide Web. Increasing popularity is now enjoyed by online payments and money transfers, let alone mobile phones that have turned into a must-have even for children and older citizens.

In view of such abundance of mobile phones, Ukrainian people’s deputies have decided to help those in need by making charity available for all, and legislated money transfers for charitable purposes (donations) to be made through SMS.

Thus, on 6 October, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine passed the Law amending legislation as to create favourable conditions for the introduction of charity telecommunication messages (draft law No. 2297).

Specifically, the new law determines that a charity telecommunication message is a voice or text message, dialling a certain number, use of dial tones, initiated from the end user equipment and recorded by the telecommunications operator equipment at the telephone number assigned for charity fund raising.

In case the subscriber forwards (sends) a charity telecommunication message, the telecommunications operator must credit the amount prepaid by the subscriber for telecommunications services (advance payment) that remains unused, to the extent of the unused balance, to a respective non-profit organisation, including a charity organisation (except for political parties and credit unions), or a territorial community, for charitable purposes, on the terms and conditions as stipulated by the agreement.

Fund raising campaigns with the use of charity telecommunication messages are carried out among subscribers by the telecommunications operator under a public fundraising agreement entered into with a non-profit organisation, including a charity organisation (except for political parties and credit unions), or a territorial community. In this case, the telecommunications operator does not need to have a Power of Attorney issued by the non-profit organisation, including a charity organisation (except for political parties and credit unions), or a territorial community.

It means, telecommunications operators will transfer the entire amount of the charity message to a respective beneficiary. This easy access to SMS donations shows up as an alternative to frequently fraudulent pop-up fund raising through charity boxes.