Following their failure to defray debts owed telecommunications firms on services rendered through Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) platform, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has given approval to the telcos to disconnect some banks currently indebted to the tune of about N250 billion.
The approval, which was given yesterday by the regulator, affected nine lenders.
The regulatory body issued a strong warning to the nine banks, authorising telecommunications companies to withdraw USSD services due to the outstanding debts.
USSD is a protocol that allows users to communicate with their mobile network operator via text messages. It is also known as “quick codes” or “feature codes”.
In a public notice dated January 15, 2025 and signed by Reuben Muoka, Director of Public Affairs, the NCC stated that it would allow Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) to disconnect USSD Codes from January 27, 2025, if the affected financial institutions fail to settle outstanding invoices owed to the telcos.
This action follows a directive issued in the Second Joint Circular of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the NCC dated December 20, 2024, which outlined a framework for settling outstanding payments.
The NCC emphasised that these banks had significantly failed to comply with the CBNNCC directive, some since 2020.
This non-compliance also renders them ineligible for the renewal of their USSD Codes.
The Commission has notified the affected banks and will be recovering the USSD Codes to potentially reassign them to other applicants.
This action by the NCC is a significant step in addressing the long-standing issue of unpaid debts owed to telcos by financial institutions for USSD services.
The potential disruption of USSD services could significantly impact the ability of customers to access banking services, including mobile money transfers, bill payments, and account inquiries.
The NCC has urged the affected banks to comply with the directive and settle their outstanding invoices to avoid service disruptions for their customers. The notice further stated:
“As of the close of business on Tuesday, January 14, 2025, of the 18 financial institutions, nine have significantly failed to comply with the directives in the Second Joint Circular of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the commission dated December 20, 2024, for settling outstanding invoices due to Mobile Network Operators (MNOs), some dating back to 2020.”
USSD codes such as 770, 919, and 822 may be reassigned to other applicants if the debts remain unpaid.
The NCC also highlighted that the failure to adhere to the CBN-NCC joint circular means the affected banks cannot meet the requirements for renewing their USSD codes. The commission stated:
“In line with its consumer protection mandate, the commission wishes to inform consumers that they may not be able to access the USSD platform of the affected financial institutions from January 27, 2025.”
Furthermore, the NCC reiterated that the financial institutions had been notified of the need to comply immediately and warned that consumers could face service disruptions if the issues are not resolved.
In related news, data from the CBN showed that 252.06 million USSD transactions, totaling N2.19 trillion, were conducted between January and June 2024.
