Nigeria Senate Orders Four Week Probe Into Failed Call Charges

Nigeria’s Senate has directed its Committee on Communications to investigate airtime deductions associated with failed, dropped and interrupted calls, and report its findings within four weeks. The inquiry will involve the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and relevant telecom operators, which the committee has been instructed to invite.

The resolution, adopted on Wednesday, November 11, follows complaints that subscribers can lose airtime when calls do not connect or are cut off, sometimes prompting repeated attempts and additional charges. The committee is to assess subscribers’ financial losses, examine operator billing practices and recommend further legislative or regulatory action.

The measures under consideration include more accessible complaints and redress channels, audits of billing systems, stronger enforcement of service-quality standards and possible refunds for verified failed calls. Any new refund requirement would still need to be adopted by the regulator. The inquiry has not yet established the scale of any losses or independently verified the billing complaints.

Senate President Godswill Akpabio said lawmakers could take up the matter as a Committee of...