Flawed quantity, flawed airtime? CBN, NCC suggest 24-hour refunds

Nigeria’s telecom and monetary regulators are shifting to mandate 24-hour refunds for on a regular basis airtime and information errors, from over-purchases to wrong-number transfers.

The joint publicity draft launched on Monday, by the Central Financial institution of Nigeria (CBN) and the Nigerian Communications Fee (NCC), seeks to repair long-standing client ache factors round mistaken airtime and information purchases by changing non-existent refund practices with clear guidelines, authorized thresholds, and standardised timelines.

For the primary time, cell community operators (MNOs), NCC-authorised licencees, and banks could be formally accountable for client errors corresponding to wrong-number transfers and mistaken worth purchases.

Below the framework, the overpurchase of airtime and information by a subscriber will likely be reversed inside 24 hours after a criticism is lodged.   

For airtime or information despatched to the flawed telephone quantity, the framework introduces value-based thresholds. Transactions of ₦20,000 ($14.64) and above would require an affidavit of indemnity or a notarised indemnity letter earlier than reversal is processed, whereas smaller transactions between ₦1,000 ($0.73) and ₦20,000 ($14.64) will depend upon recipient consent, to be facilitated by the cell community operators. The restoration timeline is about at 24 hours.

In January, TechCabal reported that the CBN and NCC will introduce a brand new client safety framework that mandates near-instant refunds for failed airtime and information transactions, from March 1, 2026. 

The regulators, in a press release on the time, mentioned subscribers who’re debited with out receiving worth could be entitled to a refund inside 30 seconds, a transfer geared toward addressing one of the crucial persistent complaints in Nigeria’s digital companies ecosystem. 

The draft framework launched on Monday expands on these efforts, which goal to handle mistaken purchases and deal with rising client complaints round failed airtime and information transactions.

“This growth buttresses the necessity for the proposed framework to institutionalise clear accountability, standardise decision timelines, and guarantee a sustainable, coordinated strategy to client redress throughout the monetary and telecommunications ecosystems,” mentioned Aisha Isa-Olatinwo, director, client safety and monetary inclusion.

If adopted, subscribers will be capable of lodge complaints with both their financial institution or cell community operator for refunds when they’re debited with out service supply, flawed worth purchases, or ship airtime/information to the flawed quantity.

The framework mandates banks and MNOs to create formal dispute decision processes, doc all claims, and course of them inside outlined service-level timelines.

For oversight, the regulators plan to introduce a central monitoring dashboard for monitoring reversals, SLA breaches, and buyer complaints.

“This may facilitate the institution of a real-time nationwide “Failed Transactions Dashboard” with uniform error code, with end-to-end visibility throughout the worth chain,” the doc learn.

When disputes stay unresolved after 5 working days, subscribers can escalate them to the CBN and NCC.

If adopted, the framework would increase client rights for tens of millions of Nigerians who depend on digital channels for airtime and information purchases.