Starting Wednesday, June 18, 2025, telecom subscribers in Nigeria will be charged directly by mobile network operators (MNOs) for Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) services, as announced by Gbenga Adebayo, Chairman of the Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), and Publicity Secretary Damian Udeh. The new End-User Billing (EUB) model, aligned with the Nigerian Communications Commission’s (NCC) 2025 USSD Pricing and Services Determination, developed with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), sets a charge of N6.98 per 120-second USSD session, deducted from customers’ airtime balance after an opt-in prompt. Adebayo emphasized that billing occurs only for successful sessions, ensuring transparency, and that USSD banking services remain unaffected, supporting financial inclusion for unbanked populations.
The shift from the previous corporate billing model, where banks were billed by telcos, resolves long-standing disputes over a N250 billion USSD debt, which led to service interruptions and threats of suspension. In December 2024, the CBN and NCC mandated banks and MNOs to settle this debt, with MTN Nigeria recovering N32 billion of N72 billion by February 28, 2025. The EUB model requires banks to meet regulatory conditions for migration, including prior customer notifications, to prevent double billing. Adebayo advised subscribers to contact MNOs for access issues and banks for transaction concerns, noting that alternative channels like mobile apps, internet banking, and ATMs remain available. ALTON reaffirmed its commitment to a seamless transition, working with stakeholders to enhance consumer protection and service reliability.
Despite earlier bank announcements on June 3, 2025, claiming immediate airtime deductions, NCC sources clarified that the EUB model was still in testing, with technical integrations ongoing, suggesting banks’ notices were premature. Subscriber resistance, led by the National Association of Telecoms Subscribers (NATCOMS), highlighted concerns over potential double billing, with Chief Deolu Ogunbanjo calling the move “exploitative.” Posts on X, such as from @GazetteNGR and @oritokemedia_1, reflect mixed sentiments, with some users decrying added costs amid economic hardship, while others noted the model’s clarity compared to bank deductions. The EUB model, capping charges at N6.98 per 120 seconds (cheaper than the prior N1.63 per 20 seconds), aims to stabilize Nigeria’s USSD ecosystem, critical for 217.5 million mobile subscribers (TeleGeography 2023), but its success hinges on resolving remaining debts and ensuring consumer trust.
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