Telecoms to Suspend USSD as 18 Banks Owe N250bn

Some banks risk disconnection by telecom operators over their failure to comply with a directive of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) to repay the N250 billion Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) debts.

It was learnt that the telcos have gotten the regulator’s nod to disconnect the affected Deposit Money Banks (DMBs).

The suspension of the USSD service is expected to last for two weeks to enable their customers migrate from their non-compliant status to the banks that are complying.

Last year, the NCC and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) issued some circulars, directing the banks to offset their debts.

The most recent circular directed all banks to pay ₦212.5 billion – 85per cent of a ₦250 billion debt – as stipulated in a December 20 memo.

But as at January 1, only four banks had complied with the directive, while 18 others refused to pay, giving various excuses why they were not supposed to pay the debt.