The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) have jointly developed a new refund framework aimed at resolving persistent consumer complaints over failed airtime and data transactions.
Under the framework, telecom subscribers who are debited for airtime or data without receiving value will be entitled to an automatic refund within 30 seconds, except in cases where transactions remain pending, which may take up to 24 hours to resolve.
The initiative follows months of joint engagements involving the NCC, the CBN, Mobile Network Operators (MNOs), Deposit Money Banks (DMBs), Value Added Service (VAS) providers and other industry stakeholders. The talks were triggered by a surge in complaints from subscribers who were debited during network downtimes, system failures or input errors, with delays in refunds often stretching for days.
According to the regulators, the new framework represents a unified approach by both the telecommunications and financial sectors to address the problem. It identifies the root causes of failed airtime and data purchases and introduces an enforceable Service Level Agreement (SLA) that clearly defines the responsibilities of banks, telecom operators and other parties involved in the transaction chain.
The framework applies whether the failure occurs at the bank level or with an NCC-licensed operator. It also mandates that subscribers must be notified by SMS of the success or failure of every airtime or data transaction.
In addition, the framework covers erroneous recharges to ported numbers, incorrect data or airtime purchases, and transactions mistakenly made to wrong phone numbers.
Speaking on the development, the NCC’s Director of Consumer Affairs, Mrs. Freda Bruce-Bennett, disclosed that the framework includes the creation of a Central Monitoring Dashboard to be jointly hosted by the NCC and the CBN.
She explained that the dashboard would allow both regulators to monitor transaction failures in real time, identify the responsible parties, track refunds and detect breaches of the agreed service levels.
“Failed top-ups consistently rank among the top three consumer complaints received by the Commission,” Bruce-Bennett said. “In line with our commitment to addressing priority consumer issues, we were determined to resolve this problem within the shortest possible time.”
She commended the Central Bank of Nigeria and other stakeholders for their collaboration, noting that the joint effort was aimed at ensuring telecom consumers receive full value for their money.
According to her, telecom operators and banks have already refunded more than ₦10 billion to customers for failed airtime and data transactions, pending final approval of the framework by the management of both regulators.
The NCC said implementation of the refund framework is expected to commence on March 1, 2026, subject to final approvals by the NCC and the CBN and the completion of technical integration by MNOs, VAS providers and deposit money banks.
The framework is expected to significantly reduce consumer frustration and improve confidence in digital payment channels for telecom services across the country.
