The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has issued a directive requiring all telecommunications companies (telcos) to block stolen subscriber identification module (SIM) cards within five minutes of receiving a report from subscribers.
This new mandate is part of the NCC’s efforts to enhance consumer protection and improve service standards across the telecommunications sector.
In a recently released publication titled “Quality of Service Business Rules” issued in August 2024, the NCC outlined several new guidelines aimed at improving customer service and ensuring better accountability from telcos.
According to the commission, any further usage of a stolen SIM card should not be chargeable to the consumer once the report has been filed.
One of the critical mandates in the new guidelines is that telcos must ensure that subscribers are attended to within 30 minutes of their arrival at service centers.
“It must not exceed 30 minutes. The licensee shall provide means of measuring the waiting time, starting from the time of arrival at the premises,” the NCC stated.
In addition to shorter wait times at service centers, the NCC has also set new standards for customer interactions.
The commission mandates that customers must be able to speak with a live personnel within five minutes of calling a customer service line.
“The maximum number of call-attempts before connecting to customer care lines should not be more than three times,” the NCC specified. “The maximum number of rings before a call is answered by either an IVR machine or a live agent should not be more than five.”
Moreover, the guidelines stipulate that if a customer chooses to speak to a live agent, they should not have to wait on hold for more than five minutes. If a live agent is unavailable within that timeframe, the customer must be offered the option to hang up and receive a call back within 30 minutes.
The NCC also introduced strict regulations concerning internet services, stating that internet outages must not exceed two hours unless due to lawful disconnection.
In a further move to protect consumers, the NCC warned about the potential deactivation of subscriber lines.
According to the commission, if a subscriber’s line has not been used for any revenue-generating event (RGE) for six months, it may be deactivated.
If the line remains inactive for another six months, the subscriber could lose their number unless the inactivity is due to network-related issues.
The NCC advised subscribers who anticipate extended periods of inactivity to request line parking to avoid losing their numbers.
