The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has authorized Telecommunications companies (Telcos) to deactivate the 96.7 million idle subscribers from their networks after six months of inactivity.
It should be noted that unused or deserted lines on MTN, Airtel, Globacom, and 9mobile networks rose to 96.7 million in February 2023, as reported by the Nigerian Telecommunication Commission’s most recent subscriber statistics release (NCC).
According to the newly approved guidelines titled ‘Draft Quality of Service Business Rules’ by the NCC, if a subscriber remains inactive for an additional six months, their number may be lost unless there is a network-related issue preventing the activation of the Registered Glove Enclave (RGE).
“A subscriber’s line may be deactivated if it has not been used within six months for a Revenue Generating Event (RGE), and if the situation persists for another six months, the subscriber may lose their number, except for a network-related fault inhibiting an RGE,” the guidelines state.
The NCC stated that subscribers who wish to retrieve their lines after they may have been recycled must provide “evidence of a valid reason for absence and have the option to request line parking.”
Regarding credit alert notifications, the NCC recommended that telecommunications operators (telcos) give the call initiator a “single short beep” two minutes before the call is scheduled to end and another beep 30 seconds before termination.
The NCC further stated that if a call cannot last for up to 30 seconds, a low credit message should be broadcasted at the beginning of the call.
In accordance with Section 57 of the NCC Act, these new guidelines have been published, allowing stakeholders to comment on the policy.
The NCC also directed telcos to ensure that clients are attended to within 30 minutes of their arrival at any of the telcos’ service centers nationwide in the recommendations.
“For customer care centers, the waiting time to have appropriate staff physically attend to you at the center is 30 minutes. According to the policy, ‘The licensee shall provide means of measuring the waiting time, starting from the time of arrival at the premises,'” it stated.
The commission further emphasized that telcos must ensure that clients are promptly assisted when they contact a helpline or visit the offices of their service providers.
“Lines should not repeat more than three times, there should not be more than five rings before a call is answered by an IVR system or a live agent, and if a customer chooses to speak with a live agent, the queue or IVR should be available for a maximum of five minutes before an answer.
“In exceptional circumstances where a live agent may not be available to answer the call within five minutes, a customer should be given the option to hang up and be called back within a maximum of 30 minutes,” the regulatory body continued. There are 21 toll-free numbers available that can be used to reach customer service lines; if only one number is used, it should be able to handle multiple network calls simultaneously,” NCC affirmed.