CBN, NCC Enforce Final Mandate on N250bn USSD Debt

|By Adejumo Adekunle –

Banks, Telcos Ordered to Clear Debts by July 2025

Sanctions Loom for Non-Compliance with Payment Terms

USSD Billing Transition Hinges on Debt Resolution

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) have issued a decisive directive to Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) and Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) to resolve the longstanding N250 billion Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) debt.

In a circular dated December 20, 2024, jointly signed by Oladimeji Taiwo, Acting Director of Payments System Management at the CBN, and Chizua Whyte, Head of Legal and Regulatory Services at the NCC, the regulators outlined clear payment guidelines.

Banks must pay 60% of debts incurred before February 2022 as a final settlement, with agreements due by January 2, 2025, and full payments completed by July 2, 2025. For post-February 2022 debts, 85% of outstanding invoices must be cleared by December 31, 2024, with future invoices settled within 30 days of issuance.

To prevent further disputes, all ongoing litigation must cease immediately. Non-compliance with these directives will attract severe penalties.

The circular also highlighted a shift to end-user billing for USSD services, contingent on debt clearance. In the interim, telecom operators are required to adopt a “10-seconds rule,” ensuring sessions shorter than 10 seconds are not billed.

This move follows telecom operators’ demands for a structured payment plan to address the debt, which has strained relationships between banks and telcos. Smaller banks have started partial repayments, but larger banks remain significantly behind, according to industry sources.

The CBN and NCC stressed that these measures aim to stabilize the financial and telecom sectors, safeguard USSD services crucial for financial inclusion, and ensure rural Nigerians’ access to essential services.