Telcos, banks finally reach agreement on ₦120 billion USSD debt
The agreement will bring an end to the protracted dispute between deposit money banks and telcos for the payment of USSD infrastructure.
CBN resolves dispute between telecoms companies and deposit money banks [Pulse Nigeria]
This was disclosed by the Executive Vice Chairman of the NCC, Prof. Umar Danbatta during the Telecom Executives and Regulators Forum (TERF) held in Lagos.
According to Danbatta, the agreement to clear the accumulated debt and continue the relationship between the two entities was made possible through the intervention of the Acting Governor of the CBN, Folashodun Shonubi.
He added, “I think this is an important development for the telecoms industry, that we have found an amicable resolution of the problem because we’re all serving the same government.
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“We do not want to disrupt financial services in the country. I’m talking about the telecommunication service providers, and we want to see the index on the penetration even go higher.
“We want it to be ubiquitous to be everywhere. Okay, but we cannot do this without settling the legacy debt, as well as paying for the service that is being provided.”
Earlier in May, Telecom Operators, under the platform of the Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), had threatened to disconnect all bank customers currently using the bank’s USSD service as they lamented the lingering debt owed them by banks.
Most bank customers rely on the USSD codes for daily transactions like fund transfers through short codes, checking of bank details and account balances, among others as transactions via that channel do not require data services.
As of 2019, the USSD debt stood at ₦32 billion and went ahead to hit ₦42 billion in 2022.
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The debt shot up to ₦120 billion at the end of 2022.
The agreement will bring an end to the protracted dispute between deposit money banks and telcos for the payment of USSD infrastructure.
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