CBN, NCC Unveil Framework to End Failed Airtime and Data Transactions

CBN and NCC have unveiled a framework to end failed airtime and data transactions.

NewsOnline Nigeria reports that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) have taken steps to address the growing incidence of failed airtime and data purchase transactions across the country.

The two regulators have issued an exposure draft of a joint national framework aimed at curbing unsuccessful airtime and data transactions, following rising consumer complaints over debits without value delivery.

According to the draft, the proposed framework is designed to clearly define accountability, standardise resolution timelines and establish an automated, end-to-end refund process across Nigeria’s financial and telecommunications ecosystems.

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The guidelines were developed by the CBN’s Consumer Protection and Financial Inclusion Department in collaboration with the NCC’s Consumer Affairs Bureau, mobile network operators (MNOs), banks, payment service providers and other industry stakeholders.

Under the proposed rules, failed airtime or data transactions where customers are debited but do not receive service will attract instant reversals. Refunds are expected to be processed in real time or within seconds once a transaction failure is confirmed.

The framework introduces unified Service Level Agreements (SLAs), standard error codes and automated reconciliation systems aimed at eliminating delays that previously stretched into days or weeks.

Speaking on the initiative, Director of Consumer Protection and Financial Inclusion at the CBN, Aisha Isa-Olatinwo, said investigations identified key causes of transaction failures to include network downtime, lack of real-time visibility across the transaction chain, insufficient airtime or data stock by aggregators, system integration gaps, and errors linked to ported or invalid phone numbers.

To address these issues, the guidelines require stakeholders to deploy end-to-end transaction visibility tools, validate phone numbers against the mobile number portability database before vending, and restrict repeated debit attempts.

Banks, MNOs, NCC-licensed operators and merchants are assigned specific responsibilities, including mandatory customer notifications for both successful and failed transactions, as well as automated refunds without the need for customer intervention.

The framework further provides that once a transaction fails at any point, banks, aggregators or MNOs must immediately trigger status updates and refunds. Pending transactions must be resolved within specified timelines or treated as failed and reversed.

A central monitoring dashboard, to be jointly hosted by the CBN and NCC, will track refunds, SLA breaches and consumer complaints nationwide. Stakeholders will also be subject to periodic audits, required to publish quarterly SLA compliance scorecards, and sanctioned for violations.

The exposure draft has been opened for public input, with banks, financial institutions, payment service providers and members of the public invited to submit comments to the CBN on or before February 20, 2026, ahead of the framework’s final adoption.