FCCPC Suspends DEON Enforcement for 40 Million Users as Airtel, Globacom Restore Airtime Credit
Updated
Updated · Business Insider Africa · Jun 9
FCCPC Suspends DEON Enforcement for 40 Million Users as Airtel, Globacom Restore Airtime Credit
3 articles · Updated · Business Insider Africa · Jun 9
Summary
Airtel and Globacom have resumed airtime credit services after the FCCPC on May 22 paused enforcement of its DEON consumer-lending rules, easing a disruption that had hit an estimated 40 million Nigerian subscribers.
The suspension stemmed from the FCCPC's 2025 interpretation that airtime and data advances fall under digital lending regulation, prompting operators to halt services while legal and compliance questions were contested.
Nigeria's roughly 185 million mobile lines are overwhelmingly prepaid, making airtime credit a key stopgap: users get small advances in seconds and repay automatically from their next recharge, plus a service fee.
The service is typically run through telecom partnerships with value-added providers such as Fonyou Technologies, Nairtime and ERL Telecoms, in a market industry estimates place at about N300 billion to N400 billion annually.
Court challenges by WASPAN and Nairtime helped freeze parts of the enforcement fight, underscoring a wider policy question over how Nigeria should regulate products that sit between telecom services and consumer finance.
Is Nigeria's regulatory clash about consumer protection or control over the N400 billion airtime credit market?
With regulations paused, are 40 million Nigerians now unprotected from the digital lending risks the FCCPC identified?
Did claims of N3 trillion in capital flight create a crisis to favor local fintechs over foreign firms?
Nigeria’s Airtime Credit Crisis: Regulatory Dispute Puts N400 Billion Market and 40 Million Users at Risk
Overview
Nigeria’s airtime credit services have faced major changes since the FCCPC introduced the DEON Consumer Lending Regulations in July 2025 to tackle abusive digital lending practices. These regulations broadly defined lending and controversially included airtime and data credit, bringing telecom companies under new compliance rules. Telecom operators argued this overstepped FCCPC’s authority, leading to a regulatory clash. After the FCCPC enforced immediate compliance in April 2026, industry pushback and legal challenges followed. The FCCPC later suspended enforcement in May, allowing gradual restoration of services, but the sector remains in flux as stakeholders await a decisive court judgment.