Senate threatens to summon minister, telecom operators over poor services, airtime deductions

The Senate on Wednesday took steps to shield millions of Nigerians from unjustified telecom charges, ordering an investigation into the billing practices of major mobile network operators and demanding automatic refunds for failed calls. The upper chamber specifically directed the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) to look into MTN Nigeria, Globacom, Airtel Nigeria, and 9mobile, assess the extent of deductions from failed, dropped, and interrupted calls, and introduce measures to compel operators to refund subscribers for services not effectively delivered.

The Senate's resolutions followed a motion sponsored by Senator Mohammed Tahir Monguno, which highlighted concerns over millions of Nigerians losing airtime on unsuccessful calls, leading to additional expenses. The lawmakers emphasized that purchasing airtime is akin to paying for a service, not just attempting to communicate, and expressed worry that aggregate small deductions could result in significant financial losses, particularly for low-income earners, traders, students, and small business operators.

The Senate reminded that the Nigerian Communications Act empowers the NCC to regulate the telecommunications industry, protect consumers, and enforce service delivery standards.