From Wednesday, June 18, 2025, telecom users in Nigeria will start paying their mobile network providers directly for USSD services.
This change comes after a new billing system approved by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), working with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and other relevant bodies.
Under this new system, users will be charged N6.98 for every 120 seconds spent during a USSD session.
The money will be taken straight from their airtime balance.
However, the charges will only apply if the session is successful, and users will first receive a prompt to accept the fee before any deduction.
This shift follows years of disagreements between banks and telecom companies over unpaid USSD debts.
Before now, telecom firms billed the banks for USSD sessions used by their customers.
This led to mounting debts and frequent threats by telcos to cut off services.
At one point, the debt climbed to N250 billion, leading to intervention from the NCC and CBN.
In a bid to end the problem, the NCC introduced a new End-User Billing (EUB) model, which now puts the payment responsibility on individual users rather than the banks.
The NCC also instructed that only banks meeting certain conditions can fully switch to the new model.
Despite the change in payment method, customers can still use their bank USSD codes as long as they have enough airtime.
Other banking channels such as apps, internet banking, and ATMs remain available.
Mobile network operators have asked customers to contact them for connection issues, while banks will continue to handle problems related to financial transactions.
The telecoms group ALTON has promised to keep working with regulators, banks, and others involved to make sure the transition goes smoothly.
