Friday, May 2, 2025 - The protracted Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) debt misunderstanding between the Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) and telecommunications operators appears to have been resolved.
This was confirmed by the Chief Executive Officer of MTN
Nigeria, Karl Toriola, Thursday, March 1, when he appeared on Arise TV to speak
on the firm’s first-quarter 2025 result, where the telecommunications company
reported over N1 trillion in revenue earnings.
Recall that the USSD debt had been a major issue between the
DMBs and telcos and had lasted for about five years.
In the third quarter of 2024, the telcos had threatened to
withdraw their service over the lingering debt, which was around N200 billion
at the time. This led to the swift intervention of the Central Bank of Nigeria
and the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), and an agreement was reached
on payment.
As of November 2024, the NCC put the debt at N160 billion.
However, earlier this year, when it appeared the banks were not forthcoming
with payments, the NCC directed the telcos to withdraw the USSD services from
debt-owning DMBs, where about 18 banks were listed.
This directive prompted the banks to look inward and start
to comply with an earlier circular signed by the CBN and NCC, which articulated
the payment patterns for the debt.
Speaking, on Arise TV this morning, May 1, Toriola confirmed
that the matter has been fully resolved and that banks have made
payments.
“I can confirm that the matter has been fully resolved. We
have received payments in full. Special thanks to the CBN, NCC, the banks, and
other stakeholders that intervened in the matter,” the MTN CEO stated.
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