The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) are intensifying their collaborative drive targeted at curbing failed airtime and data purchase transactions, including instant reversals, real-time transaction tracking, and mandatory suspension of transactions during network outages in the telecoms industry.
The latest proposals of the apex bank and the telecoms industry regulatory commission are contained in an exposure draft of a joint CBN–NCC framework, dated February 5, 2026 on failed airtime and data transactions.
The draft framework, which was released on Monday, defined failed transactions as cases where a subscriber’s account is debited without successful delivery of airtime or data and applies to all stakeholders in the airtime and data transaction ecosystem.
Under the draft framework, banks, mobile network operators (MNOs), merchants, and NCC-authorised licensees will be required to implement automatic reversal of failed transactions by ensuring that customers are refunded where accounts are debited without delivery of airtime or data.
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The framework also makes the suspension of all airtime and data transactions during network downtimes exceeding 10 minutes mandatory, with customers to be immediately notified by the Mobile Network Operators (MNOs).
To tackle the long-standing challenge of poor visibility, the CBN and NCC proposed the creation of real-time transaction codes, automated notifications, and a central dashboard to track transaction status across the value chain.
The draft framework partly reads: “Where services degrade or outages occur, operators must reverse any funds collected during the period.
“There shall be a Central Monitoring Dashboard hosted by CBN/NCC for tracking reversals, SLA breaches, and customer complaints.
“This will facilitate the establishment of a real-time national “Failed Transactions Dashboard” with uniform error code, with end-to-end visibility across the value chain.
“MNO, Aggregator & Bank shall maintain a daily Success and failed cases report for better visibility and corrective actions”, it added.
Industry experts believe that the implementation of the framework will go a long way in ensuring that telecoms services subscribers get real value for the money they use for voice and data tariffs as against the current practice in which the Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) are not really prioritizing the interest of the customers in tariff purchases.
