Commercial banks and telecommunications operators have resolved a four-year dispute over unpaid unstructured supplementary service data (USSD) fees, with nearly “N300 billion” in outstanding debt now fully cleared.
Gbenga Adebayo, chairman of the Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), announced the resolution on Thursday during a visit to the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).
Adebayo said the debt, which accumulated over four years, had posed a systemic risk to the telecoms and digital financial ecosystem.
He also appreciated Aminu Maida, the executive vice-chairman of NCC, for his immense support in seeing the full payment of the debt.
“When Dr Maida assumed office, he inherited significant industry challenges,” Adebayo said.
“One of the most difficult was the USSD debt crisis, a debt burden that grew over four years to nearly N300 billion. It had become a systemic risk to our sector and the digital financial ecosystem.”
“Through firm leadership, structured engagement, and decisive coordination, Dr Maida and his team resolved this issue.
“Today, there is no outstanding USSD debt. The ecosystem has fully migrated to end-user billing. What was once a looming crisis has been converted into a sustainable framework.”
BACKGROUND
The dispute between banks and telecom operators over unpaid USSD fees dates back several years, with telecoms operators repeatedly threatening to withdraw services over mounting debts.
In 2019, telcos said they could no longer provide USSD services for free and proposed to take a cut of N4.50k per 20 seconds from the charges paid by customers to the banks.
However, the banks kicked against it, alleging that it would raise costs by 450 percent.
On March 12, 2021, telcos said they would suspend the USSD service over N42 billion accumulated debt by banks — a move halted by Isa Pantami, former minister of communications and digital economy.
Banks and mobile network operators (MNOs) eventually agreed on March 16, 2021, to adjust the charge on customers to N6.98 for each USSD transaction.
By November 2022, the USSD debt had grown to about N80 billion, according to ALTON.
On November 16, 2023, the debt, according to telcos, increased to N200 billion — up from N120 billion in May of the same year.
At the peak of the crisis in 2024, the outstanding obligations were estimated at between N250 billion and N300 billion.
This prompted regulatory interventions by the NCC and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), culminating in the introduction of an end-user billing (EUB) framework to resolve the impasse.
Under the new system, banks will now deduct USSD transaction fees from users’ mobile airtime.
Migration to the new billing structure took place between June 3 and June 18, 2025, following partial debt repayments of N171 billion by banks.
