The Central Bank of Nigeria and the Nigerian Communications Commission have proposed routine joint audits of banks, telecom operators and other ecosystem players under a new national framework to curb persistent failures in airtime and data purchase transactions.

The plan is outlined in an exposure draft jointly issued by both regulators on February 5, 2026, aimed at addressing growing consumer complaints over failed airtime and data purchases that result in bank account debits without service delivery.

The draft framework seeks to entrench clear accountability across the financial and telecommunications value chains, impose standardised timelines for dispute resolution, and enhance consumer redress mechanisms.

Under the framework, the CBN and NCC will carry out compliance audits of stakeholders, either jointly or independently, on a quarterly basis or at other intervals considered necessary.

The document published on the website of the CBN on Monday read, “The NCC and CBN will audit Stakeholder compliance jointly or individually at quarterly or other intervals as may be determined.”

The audits will cover banks, mobile network operators, payment service providers, merchants and NCC-authorised licensees involved in airtime and data vending.

The objective is to verify compliance with service level agreements, assess operational capacity, and ensure adherence to consumer protection obligations.

The regulators also intend to introduce routine audits of partners to confirm that only duly licensed and authorised entities participate in airtime and data transactions.

The move is aimed at addressing system weaknesses linked to unlicensed intermediaries and poor platform integrations.

The framework further empowers the CBN and NCC to sanction operators where breaches occur, extending enforcement beyond voluntary compliance.

A central feature of the proposal is the adoption of unified service level agreements with firm timelines for transaction processing and reversals.

In cases of failed transactions, the draft calls for real-time notifications among banks, NCC-licensed entities and mobile network operators, with automated refunds to customers expected within seconds once a failure is confirmed.

The framework restricts banks to a maximum of two transaction re-attempts to avoid multiple debits during network disruptions and requires timely customer notifications on whether transactions are pending, failed or successful.

Through standardised response codes and end-to-end system visibility, the regulators aim to eliminate uncertainty around transaction status, which has historically slowed refunds.

To enhance oversight and accountability, the draft framework proposes establishing a central monitoring dashboard to be jointly hosted by the CBN and NCC.