The Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, and Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, have met over the Unstructured Supplementary Service Data, USSD, debt totaling ₦250 billion.
Dr. Ikechukwu Adinde, NCC Director of Consumer Affairs Bureau, disclosed this and added that the issue would soon be resolved.
The ₦250 billion USSD debt is between telecom operators and commercial banks operating in the country.
USSD, also known as quick or feature codes, is a global system for mobile communications (GSM) protocol used to send text messages and initiate financial transactions, including cash transfers, balance inquiries, payments for services, among others.
Karl Toriola, Chief Executive Officer of MTN Nigeria, had said in October that banks might be disconnected from the USSD platform due to debt arising from the use of the quick codes by their customers.
Also, Gbolahan Awonuga, Executive Secretary of Association of Licensed Telecommunication Operators of Nigeria, had revealed that the USSD debt has increased to ₦250 billion.
In 2019, telecom operators declared that they could no longer provide the services for free and proposed to take a cut of ₦4.50k per 20 seconds from the charges paid by customers to the banks.
However, the commercial banks kicked against the proposal, claiming that it would raise costs by 450 percent.
Toriola had said mobile network operators (MNOs) might, subject to regulatory approval, suspend supporting the use of the USSD on the network for banking operations, as the debt had continued to pile up and was becoming unsustainable to the operators.
However, the NCC disclosed that it was engaging with the CBN to settle the issue amicably.
Adinde, expressed optimism that the issue would soon be settled.
“The NCC remains committed to ensuring that the interests of all stakeholders, consumers, telcos and banks, are protected,” he said.
The NCC Director insisted that a resolution is critical to maintaining the seamless operation of mobile financial services that millions of Nigerians depend on daily.
Adinde also disclosed that there were plans to introduce reforms at enhancing tariff transparency in the telecommunications industry. He said the new move between the NCC and CBN would finally put an end to the USSD debt issue.
