The Central Bank of Nigeria and the Nigerian Communications Commission have proposed that customers must receive refunds within 30 seconds for failed airtime and data purchases to curb persistent billing complaints in the telecommunications sector.
This was indicated in the Exposure Draft of the Joint CBN–NCC Framework for Resolution of Failed Airtime and Data Purchase Transactions, which was published on the website of the CBN on Monday.
The landmark exposure draft, dated 5 February 2026, seeks to “institutionalise clear accountability” and establish a “coordinated approach to consumer redress” across the financial and telecommunications sectors.
The most significant shift in the proposed framework is the introduction of standardised, automated timelines for resolving failed transactions. Currently, Nigerians often face long delays when airtime purchases fail at the bank, aggregator, or Mobile Network Operator level.
To solve this, the regulators have proposed a 30-second window for automated reversals. Section 6.0 (ii) of the draft exposure, which dwelt on failed transactions, especially as it relates to unfulfilled airtime/data delivery, proposes a time to refund the purchaser of 30 seconds “if the transaction failed at the bank level… Failed transaction delivery from NCC Authorised Licensees… Failed transaction delivery from MNO to the NCC Authorised Licensee.”
The draft emphasised that stakeholders must “automate reversal processes across all stakeholders” to ensure that refunds require no human intervention from the customer. The draft exposure also stated that “all parties involved in airtime and data transactions shall take the following actions to ease usage and facilitate consumer satisfaction: a. Stakeholders must immediately connect ONLY to relevant authorised licensees of the NCC and CBN. b. MNOs and banks must only connect to NCC Authorised Licensees/MNO digital channel partners for airtime and data vending… Notifications of failure create final settlement obligations between MNO and NCC-authorised licensees… The NCC and CBN will audit stakeholder compliance jointly or individually at quarterly or other intervals as may be determined.”
From a business and oversight perspective, the regulators are proposing a Central Monitoring Dashboard to be hosted jointly by the CBN and NCC, which will track reversals, Service Level Agreement breaches, and customer complaints in real-time.
“There shall be a Central Monitoring Dashboard hosted by CBN/NCC for tracking reversals, SLA breaches, and customer complaints. This will facilitate the establishment of a real-time national ‘Failed Transactions Dashboard’ with a uniform error code with end-to-end visibility across the value chain’, read the draft exposure.
This is designed to eliminate the “unclear ownership of liability” that often occurs when banks and telcos blame each other for failed recharges. To support this, banks and MNOs will be required to maintain and share daily reports of successful and failed cases.
The proposed framework also addresses the common problem of “lost” money when customers recharge ported phone numbers. The draft mandates that MNOs must validate a phone number against the ported number database before processing any recharge. If the system identifies a number as ported out or invalid, it must “proactively stop recharges” and send a failure code back to the bank to ensure the customer is not debited.
For erroneous recharges sent to the wrong person, the framework sets clear protocols: below N20,000, MNOs will request the recipient’s consent before a reversal, and when it is above N20,000, an affidavit of indemnity or notarised letter is required to process the recovery.
The CBN and NCC in the exposure draft signalled they will take a firm stance on compliance. Both agencies will conduct joint quarterly audits of all stakeholders, including banks, payment service providers, and MNOs, to verify compliance with the new rules. The regulators have warned they will “impose penalties for any breach” of the framework’s provisions.
Banks and other financial institutions have until 10 February 2026 to submit their inputs on the draft before it is finalised. Once implemented, the framework is expected to significantly restore “subscriber trust” in Nigeria’s digital financial ecosystem.
