NCC Seeks To Curb SIM-Related Fraud With Mandatory Subscriber Notices

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has proposed that telecommunications operators must give subscribers a minimum of 14 days’ notice before deactivating their SIM cards over inactivity or post-paid churn.

The proposal is contained in a consultation paper titled “Stakeholders Consultation Process for the Telecoms Identity Risks Management Platform”, dated February 2026 and published on the Commission’s website.

The document was dated February 26, 2026, and signed by the Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Commission, Dr. Aminu Maida.

Under the proposed amendments to the Quality-of-Service (QoS) Business Rules, the NCC stated that “before churning of a post-paid line, the Operator shall send a notification to the affected subscriber through an alternative line or an email on the pending churning of his line.”

It added, “This notification shall be sent at least 14 days before the final date for the churn of the number.”

A similar provision was proposed for prepaid subscribers. The commission said, “before churning of a pre-paid line, the Operator shall send a notification to the affected subscriber through an alternative line or an email on the pending churning of his line,” stressing again that the notice “shall be sent at least 14 days before the final date for the churn of the number.”

Currently, under Section 2.3.1 of the QoS Business Rules, a subscriber line may be deactivated if it has not been used within six months for a Revenue Generating Event. If inactivity persists for another six months, the subscriber may lose the number, except in cases of network-related faults.

The commission also proposed that operators must submit churn data to the new Telecoms Identity Risk Management System.

According to the document, “An Operator shall submit details of all churn numbers to the Telecoms Identity Risks Management System (TIRMS) within seven days of completion of the churn process.”

The proposed changes are part of a broader regulatory review linked to the rollout of the Telecoms Identity Risk Management System, a cross-sector platform designed to curb fraud associated with recycled, swapped, and barred mobile numbers.

In the background section of the paper, the NCC explained that the TIRMS “is a secure, regulatory-backed Platform that helps prevent fraud stemming from churned, swapped, barred Mobile Station International Subscriber Directory Number in Nigeria.”

It added that the platform “will provide a uniform approach for all sectors in relation to the integrity and utilisation of registered MSISDNs on the Nigerian Communications network.”

The consultation process, which the commission said is in line with Section 58 of the Nigerian Communications Act 2003, is open for 21 days from the date of publication. Stakeholders are expected to submit comments on or before March 20, 2026.