The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has announced a joint framework with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) aimed at resolving consumer complaints arising from failed airtime and data transactions.
In a statement issued on Thursday, NCC spokesperson Nneka Ukoha said the framework is designed to ensure that subscribers who are debited without receiving airtime or data are refunded within 30 seconds.
According to Ukoha, the initiative followed months of engagement involving the NCC, the CBN, mobile network operators (MNOs), value-added service (VAS) providers, deposit money banks (DMBs), and other key stakeholders. The framework represents a unified response by the telecommunications and financial sectors to the rising number of complaints from consumers.
She explained that the framework introduces an enforceable service level agreement (SLA) that clearly defines the responsibilities of MNOs and banks in transaction processing and dispute resolution.
“Under the new framework, where a customer is debited but does not receive airtime or data—whether the failure occurs at the bank level or with an NCC licensee—the customer is entitled to a refund within 30 seconds,” Ukoha said.
She added that in cases where a transaction remains pending, refunds may take up to 24 hours.
The framework also mandates operators to notify consumers via SMS of the success or failure of every transaction. It further addresses issues such as erroneous recharges to ported lines, incorrect airtime or data purchases, and transactions made to the wrong phone number.
Speaking on the initiative, Freda Bruce-Bennett, NCC’s director of consumer affairs, said the framework establishes a central monitoring dashboard to track failed transactions, refunds, and SLA breaches in real time. The dashboard will be jointly hosted by the NCC and the CBN.
“Failed top-ups consistently rank among the top three consumer complaints. In line with our commitment to consumer protection, we were determined to resolve this issue within the shortest possible time,” Bruce-Bennett said.
She disclosed that, pending final approval by the management of both regulators, MNOs and banks have already refunded over ₦10 billion to customers affected by failed transactions.
Bruce-Bennett added that the framework is scheduled for implementation on March 1, following final approvals by the NCC and the CBN and the completion of technical integration by MNOs, VAS providers, and DMBs.