The Nigerian Government has asked telecommunication operators to hold off on the planned suspension of Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) services over a N42bn debt owed by banks.
The Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami, intervened in the matter on Saturday and made this known in statement signed by the Technical Assistant on Information Technology to the Minister, Femi Adeluyi.
BizWatch Nigeria had earlier reported that the Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria said telcos will disconnect Financial Service Providers from USSD services as from Monday until they pay their over N42bn debt.
ALTON had explained that the service withdrawal become necessary due to the lack of agreement on a payment structure with the banks that did not involve the end-user being asked to pay.
READ ALSO: MTN, Airtel, Others Halt USSD Banking Services Over N42 Billion Debt
Pantami, however, said a meeting had been scheduled for meeting with the Central Bank of Nigeria, telecoms operators, financial institutions and the Nigerian Communications Commission to resolve the matter.
The statement partly read, “In a bid to ensure amicable resolution of the impasse, Dr Pantami has called for a meeting of all stakeholders, including Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, the Executive Vice Chairman of the NCC (Nigerian Communications Commission), the MNOs (Mobile Network Operators), and the financial institutions.
“The meeting is scheduled to hold on Monday, 15th of March, 2021.
“The outcome of the meeting will determine the next step regarding the status of the USSD financial services.”
