By CHIDIEBERE NWANKWO
In its quest to protect the interests of consumers and to further stimulate service efficiency among operators, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) will be monitoring the compensation process by operators to their customers.
Speaking at a media briefing in Lagos, the Executive Vice Chairman and CEO of the NCC, Dr. Aminu Maida, said the decision to compensate telecom customers who have been deprived of quality service is a measure taken as part of renewed efforts to improve service delivery, protect consumers, and hold operators accountable for continued lapses in network performance across the country.
Going by the directive, from April 24, 2026, Nigerian telecom operators started issuing airtime credit compensation to customers for poor service experienced between November 2025 and January 2026.
The NCC directed this move, targeting specific community areas where providers failed their quality benchmarks, also known as KPIs (Key Performance Indicators). Eligible users must have been active, in affected areas, and made paid calls/data usage.
According to the NCC, airtime and/or data credits will be provided directly to affected subscribers based on location-specific service performance data, not general average.
The switch from simple fines against operators, to direct consumer compensation was borne out of years of consumer complaints and the need to further mandate operators to invest more in infrastructure to prevent persistent KPI issues.
Consumers have applauded this move and called for transparency in the compensation process.
The operators have agreed to align with the regulators mandate of compensation.
