The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), have instructed Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) and Mobile Network Operators (MMOs) in the country to immediately find lasting solution to their lingering dispute on the N250 billion USSD debt.
The latest directive of the apex bank and the NCC is 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”.
Jointly signed by the apex bank’s Acting Director of the Payments System Management Department, Mr. Oladimeji Taiwo, and Head of Legal and Regulatory Services at the NCC, Chizua Whyte, the circular dated December 20, outlined specific measures the DMBs and MNOs should undertake to offset the debt.
As expected, the CBN and the NCC expressed serious concerns over the lingering dispute between DMBs and MNOs regarding the use of MNOs’ USSD platforms for banking services, despite several efforts earlier made by them to resolve the dispute.
To find a lasting solution to the faceoff between the DMBs and the telecom operators on the N250 billion USSD Debt, the banking and telecoms industry regulators directed that 60% of all pre-API invoices must be paid as full and final settlement.
Under the terms of the debt settlement directed by the apex bank and the NCC, the DMBs and MNOs are required to agree on payment plans, either a lump sum or an installment, by January 2, 2025, and that if installment payments are preferred by the duo, they must be completed by July 2, 2025.
For post-API debts, which stem from transactions after the introduction of Application Programming Interfaces in February 2022, the banking and telecom industries regulators directed that the DMBs should pay 85%of all outstanding invoices by December 31, 2024 while 85% of all future invoices must be cleared within one month of issuance.
In addition, the banks and telecom operators were directed on the immediate discontinuation of all litigation related to the USSD debt issue, warning that failure to comply with the directive will attract sanctions by the relevant regulatory bodies.
The circular further clarified: “In view of the foregoing, the CBN and the NCC hereby direct DMBs and MNOs as follows: 1. That 60 per cent 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 per cent of all outstanding invoices issued after the implementation of APIs (i.e., February 2022) by December 31, 2024. Similarly, 85 per cent of future invoices must be liquidated within one month of service”, it added.
Both the regulatory institutions also maintained that the transition to end-user billing would be activated only for DMBs and MNOs that complied with the payment terms even as they promised to provide further guidance on public enlightenment initiatives related to the transition.
Until the finalisation of this transition, MNOs were instructed by the apex bank and the commission to implement the “10-seconds rule” for USSD invoicing, implying that any session lasting less than ten seconds will not be billable.
The circular offers DMBs with prepaid billing options the opportunity to migrate to EUB, subject to the completion of the required regulatory processes.
The regulators warned: “Failure to comply with the terms outlined in this directive will attract necessary sanctions, ensuring that both DMBs and MNOs uphold their obligations.”
