business
FG gives banks, telcos six-month ultimatum on N250bn USSD debt
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) have issued a final directive to Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) and Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) to resolve the protracted N250bn Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) debt dispute.
The directive, contained in a joint circular dated December 20, 2024, was signed by the acting Director of Payments System Management at the CBN, Oladimeji Taiwo, and the Head of Legal and Regulatory Services at the NCC, Chizua Whyte. The document outlines a structured payment plan for clearing the debt and introduces new operational guidelines for USSD services.
Under the terms of the directive:
60% of all debts incurred before the implementation of Application Programming Interfaces in February 2022 must be paid as full and final settlement, with payment agreements to be finalized by January 2, 2025, and full settlement due by July 2, 2025.
For debts arising after February 2022, the CBN and NCC mandated that banks pay 85% of all outstanding invoices by December 31, 2024, and ensure that 85% of future invoices are settled within one month of issuance.
Ongoing litigation related to the USSD debt issue must be discontinued.
The regulators also emphasized the transition to end-user billing for USSD services, applicable only to banks and telcos that meet the outlined payment obligations. Pending this transition, operators are required to implement a “10-seconds rule,” ensuring sessions shorter than 10 seconds are not billed.
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The CBN and NCC reiterated their commitment to resolving the debt impasse, stating that the measures are aimed at fostering stability in both the financial and telecommunications sectors while ensuring the continued availability of USSD services for Nigerians.