The Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) called for a structured dialogue between the FCCPC and the NCC to prevent a recurrence of the suspension of the Digital, Electronic, Online, or Non-traditional Consumer Lending (DEON) regulations against telecommunications operators.
Gbenga Adebayo, ALTON Chairman, said that the FCCPC’s decision to suspend the DEON enforcement, though commendable, there was need for conversation about the two agencies regulatory mandates.
“The lesson is that Nigeria’s regulatory agencies need formal coordination protocols for services at the intersection of telecommunications and financial products.
The FCCPC’s consumer protection mandate and the NCC’s telecom regulatory mandate can coexist without either displacing the other.
We are ready to participate in that conversation and urge both agencies to begin it without delay,” said Adebayo.
Commenting on the DEON suspension, Adebayo said “We commend the FCCPC for taking this decision in the interests of Nigerian consumers and the telecommunications industry.”
He described the decision as a critical step towards restoring confidence in Nigeria’s regulatory environment.
Following the enforcement suspension, Airtel Nigeria has fully restored airtime credit to its subscribers, and Glo has also brought its services back online in recent days. However, MTN Nigeria, the country’s largest operator by subscribers count with over 95 million subscribers, had not restored its airtime credit services , at the time of this report.
The restoration follows weeks of disruption that left approximately 40 million active users, overwhelmingly prepaid subscribers in the lower-income bracket, without access to the small airtime and data advances they rely on daily.
