NCC to Begin 30-Second Refunds on Failed Airtime, Data Purchase

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The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has announced that it will begin implementing a new consumer refund framework on March 1, 2026.

It said this is aimed at resolving delays in refunds for failed airtime and data transactions.

It made this known in a statement released on Thursday, January 8.

According to NCC, the policy was jointly developed with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to address frequent complaints from customers who are charged but do not get value for their transactions.

Under the framework, subscribers who are debited without receiving airtime or data will automatically receive a refund within 30 seconds, once final approvals are granted and technical integration by telecom operators, banks, and service providers is completed.

But where a transaction remains pending, the refund timeline may extend to a maximum of 24 hours, after which the customer must be fully reimbursed.

According to the NCC, the framework applies to failures originating from either Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) or NCC-licensed telecom operators, reflecting a coordinated regulatory approach across Nigeria’s financial and telecommunications sectors.

It also clearly defines responsibility for issuing refunds, regardless of whether the failure is caused by a bank, a Mobile Network Operator (MNO), or another licensed service provider.

It said the obligation is to be enforced through a binding Service Level Agreement (SLA) for all participating institutions.

Speaking on the initiative, the NCC’s Director of Consumer Affairs, Freda Bruce-Bennett, stated that the framework includes a Central Monitoring Dashboard, which will be jointly hosted by the NCC and the CBN.

According to her, the dashboard will allow regulators to monitor transaction failures, identify responsible parties, track refunds, and detect SLA breaches in real time.

“Failed top-ups rank among the top three consumer complaints, and in line with our commitment to addressing these priority issues, we were determined to resolve them within the shortest possible time,” she said.

“We are grateful to all stakeholders—particularly the Central Bank of Nigeria and its leadership—for their tireless commitment to resolving this issue and arriving at this framework, and for ensuring that consumers of telecommunications services receive full value for their purchases,” Bruce-Bennett said.

She hinted that ahead of the full rollout, telecom operators and banks have already refunded over N10 billion to customers for failed airtime and data transactions.

Beyond refunds, the NCC noted that the framework requires telecom operators and financial institutions to notify customers via SMS on the success or failure of every airtime and data transaction, a move aimed at improving transparency and reducing uncertainty for subscribers.

It added that the policy also tackles recurring consumer issues such as erroneous recharges to ported numbers, incorrect airtime or data purchases, and transactions mistakenly sent to the wrong phone numbers.

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