In order to improve efficiency in releasing a connection with a user equipment, a method, apparatus, and computer-readable medium are presented herein. A RAN receives release assistance information from a user equipment or a User Plane Function (UPF) involved in an active session with the user equipment. The release assistance information may be received over a control plane or over a user plane. The release assistance information may be received from the user equipment or the UPF over the user plane or as Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling. The release assistance information may be received from an application function via the UPF. The RAN determines to release the user equipment based on the release assistance information.