The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) have unveiled a joint framework aimed at resolving the growing issue of failed electronic airtime and data purchases.
This collaboration comes in response to a surge in complaints from telecom subscribers, many of whom have experienced account debits without receiving the corresponding value—often leaving funds stuck in “pending” status for days or weeks. The initiative seeks to strengthen accountability across banks, telecom operators, and service aggregators, ensuring failed transactions are quickly identified, traced, and resolved.
Speaking at the 94th edition of the Telecom Consumer Parliament in Lagos, Dr. Aisha Olatinwo, Director of Consumer Protection and Inclusion at the CBN, described the partnership as key to restoring consumer trust. She emphasized that the framework, led by the NCC, would establish clear processes for detecting and addressing transaction failures.
“A failed transaction means it never began,” Olatinwo said. “With this framework, we’re introducing response codes that show exactly where a failure occurs and who is responsible—so that consumers always receive value for what they pay.”
NCC Assistant Director Mr. Quasim Odumbaku noted that the issue has become one of the top concerns in the telecom industry. Citing a Mastercard report, he revealed that 91% of Nigerian telecom users recharge electronically, with a failure rate of between 1% and 3.6%.
“While the percentages seem small, in a market where 98% of users are on prepaid plans, even a 1% failure rate affects millions,” Odumbaku stated.
Industry experts link the challenge partly to rapid sector growth outpacing regulatory controls. Credit Switch Managing Director Mr. Tayo Adigun observed that some service providers entered the market without the necessary infrastructure or service-level guarantees.
In his keynote, NCC Executive Vice Chairman Dr. Aminu Maida reaffirmed the Commission’s focus on consumer protection. He described the Telecom Consumer Parliament as a critical forum for open dialogue among regulators, operators, and consumers to collectively resolve sector challenges.
Maida also announced an expansion of NCC’s regulatory oversight—from enforcing Quality of Service (QoS) standards to enhancing Quality of Experience (QoE) across all user interactions. This year’s theme, “Addressing Network Quality for Improved Consumer Experience,” underscores that shift.
The joint NCC-CBN framework, once fully implemented, is expected to deliver clearer accountability, faster dispute resolution, and a more dependable digital payment environment for Nigeria’s millions of mobile users.