The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has directed telecommunications companies to disconnect the Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) codes allocated to nine financial institutions due to unpaid debts.

The directive, signed by the NCC’s Director of Public Affairs, Reuben Muoka, was issued on Tuesday and stipulates that the affected banks must settle their outstanding debts by 27 January 2025 or risk losing access to their USSD codes. However, the NCC did not disclose the total amount owed by the nine banks.

According to a public notice issued by the regulator, nine out of 18 financial institutions have failed to comply with regulatory directives. While other banks have cleared their debts, the total amount initially owed by the financial institutions reportedly exceeded ₦200 billion. Some of the invoices have remained unpaid since 2020.

The notice states: “As of the close of business on Tuesday, 14 January 2025, nine of the 18 financial institutions listed below have significantly failed to comply with the directives in the Second Joint Circular issued by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the commission on 20 December 2024 regarding the settlement of outstanding invoices owed to mobile network operators (MNOs), some of which date back to 2020.”

The financial institutions affected include: Fidelity Bank Plc., First City Monument Bank, Jaiz Bank Plc., Polaris Bank Limited, Sterling Bank Limited, United Bank for Africa Plc., Unity Bank Plc., Wema Bank Plc., Zenith Bank Plc.

The USSD codes in question, such as 770, 919, and 822, could be reassigned to other applicants if the debts are not resolved. The NCC also noted that the banks’ non-compliance with the CBN-NCC joint circular means they may fail to meet the requirements for renewing their USSD code allocations.

The notice added: “In fulfilment of its consumer protection mandate, the commission wishes to inform consumers that they may be unable to access the USSD platforms of the affected financial institutions from 27 January 2025.”

The NCC emphasised that the financial institutions had been duly informed of the need for immediate compliance and warned that consumers might experience service disruptions if the issue remains unresolved.

Meanwhile, data from the CBN shows that 252.06 million transactions worth ₦2.19 trillion were conducted via USSD channels between January and June 2024.