Nigeria’s financial sector regulator, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and telecommunications regulator, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) have ordered Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) and Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) to settle the long-standing N250bn USSD debt dispute with telecom operators before January 2, 2025.
While ordering that post- Application Programming Interfaces (API) debts be settled before December 31, 2024, the CBN and NCC also directed banks to pay the pre-API debt before July 2, 2025.
The directive was issued in a joint circular titled, “2nd Joint Circular of the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Nigerian Communications Commission on the Resolution of the USSD Debt Issue Between Deposit Money Banks and Mobile Network Operators.”
The circular dated December 20, 2024, was signed by the Acting Director of the Payments System Management Department, CBN, Oladimeji Taiwo, and Head of Legal and Regulatory Services, NCC Chizua Whyte.
The regulators said: “In view of the foregoing, the CBN and the NCC hereby direct DMBs and MNOs as follows:
- That 60% of all pre-API invoices must be paid as full and final settlement.
- Payment plans (lump sum or installments) must be agreed upon between a concerned DMB and MNO by January 2, 2025. Installments must be based on equal monthly payments, with full payment due by July 2, 2025.
- DMBs must pay 85% of all outstanding invoices issued after the implementation of APIs (February 2022) by December 31, 2024.
- Similarly, 85% of future invoices must be liquidated within one month of service.”
According to the regulators, the transition to end-user billing will be activated only for DMBs and MNOs that comply with the payment conditions cobtained in the circular.
CBN and the NCC said they would provide further guidance on public enlightenment initiatives related to the transition.
The regulators also directed MNOs to implement the “10-seconds rule” for USSD invoicing. This implies that any session lasting less than ten seconds will not be billable.
The joint statement by the regulators further spelt out the consequence of non-compliance: “Failure to comply with the terms outlined in this directive will attract necessary sanctions, ensuring that both DMBs and MNOs uphold their obligations.”
