Airtel Africa, a telecommunications provider, has stated that the ongoing verification of its customers’ National Identity Numbers (NIN) in Nigeria could cost up to $4 million monthly.
Also, the company said it hasn’t been able to check the NINs of about 4.9 million customers as the new limit of July 31, 2024, approaches.
Per the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) order, Nigerian telecom providers must disconnect all lines connected to NINs that have yet to be verified by that date.
Airtel Africa disclosed this in its financial results for the June 30, 2024 quarter. The company, however, said it would continue to engage with the affected customers to get their NINs verified.
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Airtel Nigeria’s NIN Compliance Update
Sunil Taldar, CEO of Airtel Africa, reported on the company’s work in Nigeria. He said Airtel Nigeria has been following the rules and blocking all SIM cards that aren’t linked to their owners’ NINs.
He said the telco had blocked all users without NINs and those with more than 4 active SIM cards, which didn’t significantly affect its income. He also said that since the order was sent out in December 2023, 8.7 million customers have already been checked out.
He did say, though, that “right now we’re dealing with about 4.9 million customers whose NINs haven’t been verified, putting about $3 million to $4 million in monthly revenue at risk.”
Taldar said that the telco would continue working with the NCC and other relevant authorities to speed up and simplify the verification process so that customers don’t have to wait for service interruptions and so that the company can make as much money as possible while following the directive.
NCC Directive: Impact on SIM Users without NIN
According to the NCC, in December 2023, phone companies were told to block all SIM cards that had not submitted their National Identity Numbers (NINs) by February 28, 2024.
In the same way, customers whose NINs had been filed but were still not verified were to be blocked on April 15, 2024. This date was moved to July 31, 2024, though. Also, rules were made that say a person can’t have more than 4 active SIMs, and by March 29, 2024, all of those extra SIMs will be banned.
As part of the ongoing Federal Government NIN-SIM harmonisation effort, all subscribers must provide accurate NIN information to update their SIM registration records.
Read also: Airtel Uganda to sell remaining shares to satisfy regulatory criteria
MTN’s Line Disconnection: What You Should Know
As ordered by the NCC, MTN, Nigeria’s biggest mobile network provider, said in March that it had disconnected 4.2 million lines from its network as of February 28.
The firm unplugged lines for which subscribers did not provide NINs. Since December 2023, when NCC issued an industry-wide regulation requiring altogether banning subscriber lines not linked to their NIN, the business has verified 19 million lines.
It was reported that 4.3 million of these had been verified, and 4.2 million had been disconnected as of February 28, 2024.
MTN, Airtel, Globacom, and 9mobile’s active subscribers dropped by nearly 6 million to 218 million in January when the telecoms banned SIMs not tied to NIN.
