To protect telecom consumers, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) don announce new rule wey go make sure say people get instant refund anytime airtime or data purchase fail.
Di initiative come after many months of meeting between regulators, banks and mobile network operators, and e dey to stop di long-time problem of “debit without value,” wey be say customer go pay but no go get service because of network or system problem.
Under di new guidelines, customers wey dem debit for transaction wey fail because of network wahala or technical error must get refund within 30 seconds.
For cases wey transaction still dey pending or need extra confirmation, di rules allow maximum of 24 hours to settle am.
Service providers must also send instant SMS to confirm whether every transaction succeed or fail. Dem don also set clear procedures to handle mistakes like recharge wey enter ported line or wrong phone number.
To make sure everybody take responsibility, enforceable Service Level Agreements (SLA) go bind banks and telecom operators, clearly showing who go answer whenever transaction fail.
As she talk about enforcement, di Director of Consumer Affairs for NCC, Mrs. Freda Bruce-Bennett, talk say NCC and CBN go jointly host one Central Monitoring Dashboard.
Di platform go help regulators track failed transactions, monitor refund timing, and quickly identify di banks or mobile operators wey break di rules.
She add say failed airtime and data top-up dey always among di top consumer complaints, and she stress say regulators serious to make sure customers get full value for dia money.
Di financial impact don already show, as NCC reveal say banks and mobile operators don process over ₦10 billion refunds during di pilot stage and stakeholder engagement before di full rollout.
Full implementation go start on March 1, 2026, to give enough time for technical connection between Deposit Money Banks, Value Added Service providers and Mobile Network Operators.
