Telecommunications firms like MTN Nigeria and Airtel Nigeria are required by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) to make sure that customers are attended to within 30 minutes of arriving at their service centres.
Included in the NCC’s “Quality of Service Business Rules” is this regulation, which was published in August 2024 after a draft version was made public in June 2023. The rules set basic service standards, related metrics, and key performance indicators with the goal of improving the quality of service provided to telecom users.
“< 30 minutes. The Licensee shall provide means of measuring the waiting time, starting from the time of arrival at the premises,” said in response to concerns about wait times at customer service centres, the NCC.
The National Association of Telecom Subscribers’ president, Adeolu Ogunbanjo, stated that the development would lessen the number of people in telecom centres.
According to him: “This is a fantastic development. The NCC has been doing well in terms of improving customer experience. This is a good development for the consumers, unlike before when people waited for hours (wasting man hours) and did not get attended to. It will save consumer waiting time at the customer experience center of the telcos. We are happy about this.”
Apart from decreasing wait times, the NCC has implemented several enhancements to their customer care. The commission mandates that consumers interact with live representatives within five minutes and has set a maximum limit of three phone attempts prior to connecting to customer service lines. If this is not practicable, the telcos have to give the subscribers a call back within 30 minutes.
Additionally, the NCC has ruled that requests to disable SIM cards that have been reported lost or stolen must be fulfilled in five minutes.
With emphasis, the commission stated: “< 5 minutes blocking allowed, and further usage should not be chargeable to the consumer from the moment of filing the report.”
Two hours is the maximum duration of an internet outage, unless there is a valid reason to disconnect. If a subscriber’s line isn’t used for any revenue-generating events for a year, they risk having their phone lines cancelled, BrandSpur telecom and IT news reports.
“A subscriber line may be deactivated if it has not been used within six (6) months for a Revenue Generating Event (RGE). If the situation persists for another 6 months, the subscriber may lose his/her number, except for network-related fault inhibiting an RGE…”
However, to make sure customers don’t lose their numbers, the NCC also permits subscribers to seek line parking if they have good reasons for not utilising their lines.
