By Francis Wilfred
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) have developed a framework to address consumer complaints arising from unsuccessful airtime and data transactions.
According to a statement signed by Nnena Ukoha Head Public Affairs of the Commission, the framework aims to provide refunds to subscribers who are debited but do not receive value for their purchases due to network downtimes, system glitches, or human input errors.
She further noted that under the new framework, subscribers are entitled to a refund within 30 seconds if they are debited but do not receive airtime or data. “In cases where the transaction remains pending, the refund may take up to 24 hours. The framework also mandates operators to notify consumers via SMS of the success or failure of every transaction”.
The framework establishes a Central Monitoring Dashboard, jointly hosted by the NCC and the CBN, to monitor failures, identify responsible parties, track refunds, and detect breaches of Service Level Agreements (SLAs). The dashboard will enable real-time monitoring of transaction failures and refunds.
The NCC and CBN have also made it clear that operators will be held accountable for failed transactions, including erroneous recharges to ported lines, incorrect airtime or data purchases, and transactions made to the wrong phone number.
“Failed top-ups rank among the top three consumer complaints, and we are committed to resolving this issue as quickly as possible,” said Mrs. Freda Bruce-Bennett, Director of Consumer Affairs at the NCC.
The implementation of the framework is expected to commence on March 1, 2026, pending final approvals and technical integration by all stakeholders. So far, MNOs and banks have collectively refunded over N10 billion to customers for failed transactions
