Debts to USSD reach $200 billion as telecoms cut off

On Thursday, telecommunications companies revealed that the total amount of debt due to them by Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) for Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) has surpassed 200 billion.

Declaring that the debt must be paid in full, the Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) threatened to stop debtor banks from using the service.

This was said by ALTON Chairman Gbenga Adebayo at a stakeholder meeting with Dr. Aminu Maida, the Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) in Lagos.

Adebayo claimed that the bank has remained silent about payment in spite of all petitions, discussions, and interventions by the CBN and NCC.

The head of ALTON stated that the country's fluctuating foreign exchange issues would cause the debt's value to continue climbing.