NCC, CBN meet over ₦250Bn USSD debt

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) have met over the Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) debt totalling ₦250 billion.

NCC Director of Consumer Affairs Bureau, Dr Ikechukwu Adinde, made the disclosure and expressed that the hope that the issue would soon be settled.

The ₦250 billion USSD debt is between telecom operators and commercial banks operating in the country.

USSD, also known as quick or feature codes, is a global system for mobile communications (GSM) protocol used to send text messages and initiate financial transactions, including cash transfers, balance inquiries, and payments for services, among others.

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of MTN Nigeria, Karl Toriola, had said in October said banks might be disconnected from the USSD platform, due to debt arising from the use of the quick codes by their customers.

Also, the Executive Secretary of the Association of Licensed Telecommunication Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), Gbolahan Awonuga, had in October revealed that the USSD debt had increased to ₦250 billion.

In 2019, telcos declared that they could no longer provide the services for free and proposed to take a cut of ₦4.50k per 20 seconds from the charges paid by customers to the banks.

However, the commercial banks kicked against the proposal, claiming that it would raise costs by 450 percent.

Toriola had said mobile network operators (MNOs) might, subject to regulatory approval, suspend supporting the use of the USSD on the network for banking operations, as the debt had continued to pile up and was becoming unsustainable to the operators.

However, the NCC said it is engaging with the CBN to settle the issue amicably.

NCC Director of Consumer Affairs Bureau, Dr Ikechukwu Adinde, expressed optimism that the issue would soon be settled.

“The NCC remains committed to ensuring that the interests of all stakeholders, consumers, telcos, and banks, are protected,” he said.

He insisted that a resolution is critical to maintaining the seamless operation of mobile financial services that millions of Nigerians depend on daily

The NCC Director also disclosed that plans were on to introduce reforms to enhance tariff transparency in the telecommunications industry. He said the new move between the NCC and CBN would finally put an end to the USSD debt issue.