Telecom Consumers Welcome Refund Framework For Failed Airtime, Data Transactions
By Sunday Etuka
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) recently announced its readiness to rollout a refund framework for failed airtime and data transactions between the telecom consumers and the financial institutions in the country, in line with its consumer-focused objectives.
The milestone initiative which was designed in collaboration with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is expected to end the protracted years of bitterness and rancor between the telecom consumers and the financial institutions in the country, especially banks as a result of failed transactions.
Some of the telecom consumers who spoke to TheFact Daily on the breakthrough, expressed joy that the telecom regulator has finally responded to their decades of plea on the matter.
Leah Katung-Babatunde, a senior journalist in Abuja, has this to say: “It’s a good one. I’ve had these experiences but not in recent times. The latest one was last year. I bought airtime for my husband via my union bank account. Was debited but he didn’t get it. Had to harass them and after about a week the money was refunded.
Another telecom customer based in Keffi, Gonung Esther Tamba, said “It happened to me during the cashless policy period when bank networks were extremely bad. I attempted to purchase airtime several times and was debited each time without being credited. Although one or two transactions were later refunded, not all were reversed.
“The same issue occurred with data purchases. I was debited but never received the data. I was advised to wait for a refund, but it never came. Due to the small amount, I didn’t see the need to go to the bank.”
On his part, Ohen Kay said: “After weeks of back and forth for a failed airtime top up to my spouse from my UBA to her MTN number, UBA only refunded 1k out of the 3k I sent at once. How they chose to refund 1k out of the 3k is still a rude shock to me. Till date the 2k is hanging. So annoying.”
However, NCC said the soon to be launched framework is potent enough to address consumer complaints arising from unsuccessful airtime and data transactions during network downtimes, system glitches, or human input errors.
It explained that the framework was the outcome of several months of engagements involving the NCC, the CBN, Mobile Network Operators (MNOs), Value Added Service (VAS) providers, Deposit Money Banks (DMBs), and other relevant stakeholders.
Stressing that the engagements were prompted by a rising incidence of failed airtime and data purchases, where subscribers were debited without receiving value and experienced delays in resolution.
“The Framework represents a unified position by both the telecommunications and financial sectors on addressing such complaints. It identifies and tackles the root causes of failed airtime and data transactions, including instances where bank accounts are debited without successful delivery of services.
“It also prescribes an enforceable Service Level Agreement (SLA) for MNOs and DMBs, clearly outlining the roles and responsibilities of each stakeholder in the transaction and resolution process,” the NCC said.
The Commission stated that under the new framework, where a purchaser is debited but fails to receive value for airtime or data—whether the failure occurs at the bank level or with an NCC licensee—the purchaser is entitled to a refund within 30 seconds, except in circumstances where the transaction remains pending, of which the refund can take up to 24 hours.
“The framework further mandates operators to notify consumers via SMS of the success or failure of every transaction. It also addresses erroneous recharges to ported lines, incorrect airtime or data purchases, and instances where transactions are made to the wrong phone number,” it added.
