The Nigerian Communications Commission has ordered telecommunications companies to disconnect the Unstructured Supplementary Service Data codes assigned to nine financial institutions as result of a backlog of unpaid debts.
A directive recently signed by NCC’s Director of Public Affairs, Reuben Muoka, noted that the affected banks are to pay the outstanding debts by January 27, 2025, or risk losing access to their USSD codes.
According to the NCC’s public notice, nine out of eighteen financial institutions had not complied with regulatory directives and while their invoices remained unpaid since 2020, other banks have cleared their debts.
The NCC stated that the total amount initially owed by the financial institutions was reported to exceed N200 billion. However, the amount of debt owed by the nine banks was not specified.
The affected financial institutions include Fidelity Bank Plc, First City Monument Bank, Jaiz Bank Plc, Polaris Bank Limited, Sterling Bank Limited, United Bank for Africa Plc, Unity Bank Plc, Wema Bank Plc, and Zenith Bank Plc.
