Sources from the Nigerian Communications Fee (NCC) have debunked a latest announcement by banks that the deduction of fees for the Unstructured Supplementary Service Information (USSD) from prospects’ airtime, in any other case often called end-user billing, commenced on June 3.
In line with NCC officers, who wouldn’t need to be named as a result of they weren’t authorised to talk, the banks and the telecom operators are nonetheless firming up issues and testing the method, and no time has been mounted but for the graduation.
“The technical integration and end-to-end testing are nonetheless being labored on, after which they are going to be communicated by respective banks to their prospects on the graduation date, which has but to be decided,” one of many sources advised Nairametrics.
Banks’ announcement
Earlier this month, some banks, together with UBA and FCMB, introduced that fees for USSD transactions can be deducted from airtime as an alternative of their {bank} accounts ranging from June 3, 2025.
The banks claimed the change was a directive from the telecom regulator, NCC.
“In keeping with the directive of the Nigerian Communications Fee (NCC), please be told that efficient June 3, 2025, fees for USSD banking providers will not be deducted out of your {bank account},” one of many banks mentioned in a discover despatched to its prospects on June 3.
“Going ahead, these fees will likely be deducted straight out of your cellular airtime stability in accordance with the NCC’s Finish-Consumer Billing (EUB) mannequin,” it added.
Telcos disagree with banks
In the meantime, telecom operators have additionally expressed their displeasure with the discover issued by the banks, describing it as a gross misinformation intentionally hatched “to swimsuit their egocentric pursuits.”
“I don’t perceive why the banks are twisting agreements and distorting data simply to favour their egocentric pursuits. Within the first place, the data wasn’t a directive from the NCC however a joint regulatory Bargain between the NCC and the Central {Bank} of Nigeria (CBN witnessed by the telcos and the banks,” mentioned the Chairman of the Affiliation of Licensed Telecom Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), Engr. Gbenga Adebayo.
“The Bargain was that if the banks lastly cleared all USSD money owed owed to the telcos by June 2, 2025, they’re free emigrate to the end-user billing technique, as long as the mannequin of migration is clear and agreed upon by the telcos,” he added.
In line with him, the rationale for that clause was as a result of the telcos insisted that the method of migration is such that won’t permit a buyer to be billed twice; in different phrases, {that a} subscriber wouldn’t have his airtime deducted and now have his or her cash deducted for identical providers from his or her {bank account}.
“As we converse, a number of the banks have cleared their money owed, however the majority are but to take action. So, even when all of the modalities of migrating to end-user billing have been completely carried out, the implementation can not even start as a result of the banks are but to clear the USSD debt owed to the telcos,” Adebayo added.
What you need to know
Nigerian banks and telcos have been having a working battle over USSD debt as the previous usually fail to remit to the latter after deducting from prospects’ accounts.
- To resolve the matter, in December 2024, the Central {Bank} of Nigeria (CBN) and the NCC directed cellular community operators (MNOs) and DMBs to resolve the long-standing N250 billion USSD debt.
- Following threats by telcos to withdraw providers over the debt collected by banks, the NCC, in January, threatened to droop the USSD service and publish an inventory of banks nonetheless owing telcos.
- On January 15, the regulator directed telcos to disconnect the USSD codes assigned to 9 banks by January 27 resulting from unpaid money owed.
- On February 28, MTN Nigeria mentioned it obtained N32 billion out of N72 billion from banks as a part of fee for the USSD debt.
