MTN Nigeria, Airtel, and other telecom providers have been directed by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) to entirely block phone numbers without National Identity Numbers (NINs) or whose NINs have not been verified.
The NCC instruction and the corresponding timelines for the barring were disclosed in a corporate announcement that MTN Nigeria filed with the Nigerian Exchange Limited.
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“This is part of an industry-wide directive that requires phone lines for which the subscribers have not submitted their NINs to be barred on or before 28 February 2024,” stated MTN Nigeria in a statement signed by Uto Ukpanah, Company Secretary. NINs that have been filed but not validated are to be blocked by March 29 at the latest.
2024, in which an unconfirmed NIN is connected to five or more lines.
Likewise, lines that have fewer than five connections to an unverified NIN will be prohibited by April 15, 2024, at the latest. Before their lines are unbarred, all impacted subscribers must undergo biometric and biodata verification.
The NCC issued an order in April 2022 mandating operators to limit outgoing calls (one-way banning) for users whose lines are not connected to NINs. This current guideline is a follow-up to that directive.
MTN urged impacted customers to provide their NINs for validation.
stated.
“We are improving the capability of our several service outlets as part of these efforts to make the procedure more efficient and seamless. MTN continued, “We will keep collaborating with the National Identity Management Commission to expedite the NIN verification process as part of our commitment to ensuring that our subscribers abide by the NCC regulation.
Additionally, the business indicated its readiness to collaborate with the federal government to guarantee industry-wide adherence to the NCC directive.
“We are committed to complying with the industry-wide directive from the NCC as a law-abiding corporate citizen and in line with our operating licence requirements. With the release of FY 2023 results, we will provide further updates to investors on progress and potential impact,” the firm stated.
