The Nigerian Communications Commission has ordered GLO, MTN Nigeria, Airtel, and other telecoms companies to completely block phone lines that do not have National Identity Numbers or whose NINs have not been verified.
This was revealed in a corporate notification filed by MTN Nigeria with the Nigerian Exchange Limited, which revealed the NCC instruction and the associated timeframes for the banning.
MTN Nigeria stated in a statement signed by its Company Secretary, Uto Ukpanah, that –
“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. With regard to NINs that have been submitted but not verified, such lines are to be barred on or before 29 March 2024, where five or more lines are linked to an unverified NIN.
“Similarly, where less than five lines are linked to an unverified NIN, such lines are to be barred on or before 15 April 2024. All affected subscribers must be verified (biometrics and biodata) before their lines are unbarred.”
The latest regulation is a follow-up to the NCC’s April 2022 rule, which required operators to limit outbound calls (one-way banning) for users whose lines are not connected with NINs.
cc: Punch Ng
