Telecommunications operators in Nigeria have blocked millions of lines from making and receiving calls to ensure subscribers’ National Identification Numbers (NIN) are linked with all active SIMs. This move comes as the telcos rush to meet the July 31, 2024, deadline set by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) to bar all subscribers whose NINs have not been verified.
Despite the deadline extension from April 15, 2024, to July 31, the recent actions by MTN, Airtel, Globacom, and 9mobile indicate that many subscribers still have irregularities with their NIN-SIM link.
Previously, telcos disconnected millions of lines that were not linked with SIMs. The current phase requires operators to verify all submitted NINs to ensure owners’ details match those on the SIM registration database.
While the number of affected lines across networks is yet to be released, Airtel disclosed in its quarterly results that NINs of 4.9 million of its customers were still unverified.
Why Many Are Still Affected
An official from one of the mobile network operators, speaking under anonymity, said many subscribers ignored messages about correcting NIN and SIM data irregularities.
“We received a directive from the NCC to bar all lines whose owners’ NIN has not been verified. As the deadline is July 31, some lines with unverified linked NINs are being barred. All affected subscribers have received multiple messages to update their records. Issues often involve mismatched names, photos, or birth dates between the NIN and SIM registration,” the official said.
However, the official noted that barred line owners can reactivate them by visiting their service provider to update their records.
Backstory
In December 2023, the NCC directed all telecommunications operators to fully bar all SIMs that failed to submit their NINs by February 28, 2024. Customers who submitted their NINs but remained unverified were to be barred on April 15, 2024. This deadline was extended to July 31, 2024. Guidelines were also issued limiting customers to four active SIMs, with excess SIMs to be barred by March 29, 2024.
This directive is part of the Federal Government’s NIN-SIM harmonization exercise requiring all subscribers to provide valid NIN information to update SIM registration records.
What You Should Know
MTN, the largest mobile network operator in Nigeria, disclosed in March that it had disconnected 4.2 million lines from its network as of February 28 in line with the NCC’s directive. The disconnected lines were those where subscribers did not submit their NIN. Since the NCC’s directive in December 2023, MTN subjected 19 million lines to verification, with 4.3 million verified and 4.2 million disconnected by February 28, 2024.
In January, active subscriptions across the four mobile networks (MTN, Airtel, Globacom, and 9mobile) declined by over 6 million to 218 million due to the barring of SIMs not linked with NIN.
