By Nchetachi Chukwuajah
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) have unveiled a joint framework to address the growing challenge of failed airtime and data transactions.
The 20-page draft was published on the CBN’s website on Monday, February 9.
It was developed by the CBN’s Consumer Protection and Financial Inclusion Department and the telecom regulator, with input from banks, mobile operators, payment providers, and other stakeholders.
Under the new system framework, banks, mobile network operators, and payment service providers are expected to settle refunds promptly and according to consistent timelines.
The draft proposes that once fully approved and implemented, the refund mechanism would entitle subscribers to automatic refunds within 30 seconds when a purchase fails, with a maximum resolution window of up to 24 hours for pending transactions.
The CBN’s Director of Consumer Protection and Financial Inclusion, Dr Aisha Isa-Olatinwo, said the framework seeks to clarify accountability, standardise complaint resolution timelines, and create a coordinated system for addressing grievances across both the financial and telecommunications sectors.
Isa-Olatinwo said: “This development buttresses the need for the proposed framework to institutionalise clear accountability, standardise resolution timelines, and ensure a sustainable, coordinated approach to consumer redress across the financial and telecommunications ecosystems.”
The draft framework has been exposed to banks, other financial institutions, payment service providers, and the general public for comments, with stakeholders invited to submit feedback to the financial regulator no later than February 20.
The CBN noted that the framework is a collaborative effort between the banking and telecommunications sectors to protect consumers and streamline complaint resolution processes.
Director of Consumer Affairs at the NCC, Freda Bruce-Bennett, disclosed that the framework also establishes a Central Monitoring Dashboard to be jointly hosted by the NCC and the CBN.
According to her, the dashboard will enable both regulators to monitor failures, identify the responsible party, track refunds, and monitor service level agreement (SLA) breaches in real time.
Bruce-Bennett said, “Failed top-ups rank among the top three consumer complaints, and in line with our commitment to addressing these priority issues, we were determined to resolve them within the shortest possible time.”
Recall that the regulators had in January 2026 given a deadline of March 1 for banks and telecommunications companies to implement a new refund framework developed by the NCC and CBN to address these complaints.
