The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has announced a joint framework with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to resolve consumer complaints linked to failed airtime and data transactions.
A statement issued by Nneka Ukoha, NCC spokesperson, and obtained by NAIJAONPOINT , said the initiative is designed to guarantee refunds to affected consumers within 30 seconds.
Ukoha said the framework targets transaction failures caused by network downtime, system malfunctions, or human errors during airtime and data purchases.
She explained that the framework emerged after months of consultations involving the commission, the CBN, mobile network operators, value-added service providers, deposit money banks, and other stakeholders.
According to her, the agreement reflects a unified response by the telecommunications and financial sectors to rising complaints from subscribers debited without receiving airtime or data.
“Under the new framework, where a purchaser is debited but fails to receive value for airtime or data—whether the failure occurs at the bank level or with an NCC licensee—the purchaser is entitled to a refund within 30 seconds, except in circumstances where the transaction remains pending, of which the refund can take up to 24 hours,” the statement reads.
“The framework further mandates operators to notify consumers via SMS of the success or failure of every transaction.
“It also addresses erroneous recharges to ported lines, incorrect airtime or data purchases, and instances where transactions are made to the wrong phone number.”
NCC, CBN to launch real-time monitoring of failed airtime transactions
Freda Bruce-Bennett, NCC director of consumer affairs, said the framework establishes a central monitoring dashboard to track failed transactions, refunds, and service level agreement breaches in real time.
Bruce-Bennett noted that the dashboard would be jointly managed by the NCC and the CBN.
“Failed top-ups rank among the top three consumer complaints, and in line with our commitment to addressing these priority issues, we were determined to resolve it within the shortest possible time,” she said.
“We are grateful to all stakeholders—particularly the Central Bank of Nigeria and its leadership—for their tireless commitment to resolving this issue and arriving at this framework, and for ensuring that consumers of telecommunications services receive full value for their purchases.
“So far, pending the approval of management of both regulators on the framework, MNOs and banks have collectively made refunds of over N10 billion to customers for failed transactions.”
Bruce-Bennett said the framework will take effect on March 1, following final approvals by the NCC and the CBN, after technical integration by mobile network operators, value-added service providers, and deposit money banks.