Telcos May Suspend USSD Service over N200bn Debt Owed By Banks

Emma Okonji

Indications are rife that telecoms operators may have received the nod from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) to suspend the Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) debt owed telecoms operators by Deposit Money Banks (DMBs).

One of the telecoms operators who revealed this to THISDAY said the NCC would soon publish the list of banks that are still indebted to the telcos, since very few banks have complied with the payment directives as at December 31 last year, despite efforts by NCC in ensuring that the banks settle all outstanding debts by the end of last year.

According to the telco, only four banks have complied with payment, while 18 have bluntly refused to pay the debt, which has accumulated to over N200 billion in the last four years.

Spokesperson for telecoms operators, and Chairman of the Association of Licensed Telecoms Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), Mr. Gbenga Adebayo, who confirmed the NCC’s approval to suspend the USSD service, said the suspension would be for only two weeks, designed to notify bank customers who still use the USSD code for their financial transactions.

According to him, after two weeks of suspension, telcos will completely withdraw the USSD service from banks that may still refuse to clear off their debts.

THISDAY gathered that although it was a tough decision to suspend and later withdraw the USSD service from banks that failed to clear their USSD debt, the measure became necessary to enable bank customers switch their services to other banks that have complied with the payment directive, since the outright service withdrawal will only affect banks that are owing.   

Both NCC and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), had last year, issued several circulars, compelling the banks to pay their debts.

The most recent circular directed all banks to clear their USSD debt before December 31 last year, but as at January 1, only four banks have complied with the directive, while 18, bluntly refused to pay, giving various excuses why they were not supposed to pay such debt.

THISDAY gathered that telecoms operators had even written off 40 per cent of the accumulated debt and asked the banks to pay 60 per cent of the debt, but the banks are still adamant, which may have prompted NCC to give approval for the suspension and withdrawal of the USSD service. 

The telcos had developed USSD code in 2018 and were charging bank customers directly, while the banks were also charging their customers, before it was stopped by the regulators, following complaints from bank customers that alleged double charges.

The regulators only allowed banks to charge customers, with an agreement that the banks will remit N6.98 kobo to telcos for every USSD transaction.

But since 2019, the banks have been at loggerheads with telcos, over the non-remittance of USSD fees charged by the banks.

As at 2019, telcos said the accumulated USSD debt was N32 billion. The figure continued to accumulate to reach N42 billion as at March 2021 and N80 billion as at November 2022, until it rose to reach N120 billion in June 2023 and over N200 billion in October 2024. 

Telcos had threatened to go to court to challenge the banks and had also threatened to withdraw the USSD service, should the debt ligers.