Due to a backlog of unpaid debts, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has instructed telecommunications companies to disconnect the Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) codes of nine financial institutions.
The directive, issued by NCC’s Director of Public Affairs, Reuben Muoka, on Tuesday stated that the affected banks must settle their outstanding debts by January 27, 2025, or face losing access to their USSD codes.
However, the NCC did not disclose the specific amount owed by the nine banks.
The public notice from the regulator revealed that of the 18 financial institutions involved, nine have failed to comply with regulatory requirements.
While other banks have cleared their debts, the total amount initially owed by all the institutions was reported to exceed N200 billion.
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The NCC also noted that some of the unpaid invoices have been outstanding since 2020.
Part of the notice read, “By the information made available to the commission as at close of business on Tuesday, 14th January 2025, of a total of 18 financial institutions, the nine institutions listed below have failed to comply significantly with the directives in the Second Joint Circular of the Central Bank of Nigeria and the commission dated December 20, 2024, for the settlement of outstanding invoices due to MNOS, some since 2020.”
The financial institutions impacted include Fidelity Bank Plc, First City Monument Bank, Jaiz Bank Plc, Polaris Bank Limited, Sterling Bank Limited, United Bank for Africa Plc, Unity Bank Plc, Wema Bank Plc, and Zenith Bank Plc.
USSD codes such as 770, 919, and 822, among others, may be reassigned to other applicants if the outstanding debts are not settled.
The regulator emphasized that the failure of these banks to adhere to the CBN-NCC joint circular means they do not meet the necessary requirements for maintaining the good standing needed to renew the USSD codes allocated to them.
It added, “In fulfilment of its consumer protection mandate, the commission wishes to inform consumers that they may be unable to access the USSD platform of the affected financial institutions from January 27, 2025.”
The NCC stressed that financial institutions had been properly informed about the urgent need for compliance and cautioned that consumers could experience service disruptions if the issues are not addressed promptly.
In the meantime, data from the CBN showed that between January and June 2024, a total of 252.06 million transactions, amounting to N2.19 trillion, were processed through USSD.
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