The Association of Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) has urged banks to prioritise the payment of their Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) debt.
ALTON’s Chairman, Gbenga Adebayo, said this during the first telecoms stakeholders’ meeting with Aminu Maid, Executive Vice-Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), in Lagos State.
According to Adebayo, the debts owed by banks had increased to N200 billion.
Information Nigeria reports that in September, Umar Danbatta, the former Executive Vice-Chairman of NCC said the debt was N120 billion.
He said although there had been talks on the issue, no action was taken on the part of the banks.
Adebayo said the debt must be paid in total, noting that “telcos would not hesitate to block debtor banks from accessing the service anytime soon.”
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“In spite of all appeals, meetings and interventions by the ministry of communications, innovation and digital economy, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), and NCC, mainly during the last administration, the banks have kept mute over payment.
“If operators had to shut down their services, bank customers would no longer be able to carry out transactions such as fund transfers through shortcodes, check bank details and account balances, among others, through their mobile phones,” he added.
The chairman added that the value of the debt would keep rising based on the foreign exchange challenges in the country.
Adebayo said the matter needed to be resolved as fast as possible to avoid the collapse of the sector, adding that the debt was not allowing operators to further expand services.
