NCC imposes ₦ 104 m on AIRTEL for SIM registration violations

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has slammed a fine of N104M on Airtel Networks Limited for violating the SIM registration directives in the State of Kano.

This was disclosed in an official sanction notice of 26 May 2025 and addressed to the CEO of Airtel Nigeria at the company headquarters in Ikoyi, Lagos.

The notice, signed by high NCC officials, Chizua Whyte, head of the legal and regulatory services, and Mohammed B. Dari, the head of monitoring and the application of compliance, followed the previous correspondences, including a directive issued on January 12, 2025 and a pre-application notice sent on March 19, 2025.

The NCC highlighted that, despite the previous warnings, Airtel has not respected the specific instructions to suspend the records of the SIM by third -party agents in the state of Kano.

Subsequently, a meeting took place on March 27, 2025, after Airtel’s response dated 24 March, but the commission found the explanation of the company unsatisfactory.

Following investigations, the NCC established the following infringements:

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4. Nighty night registrations: the Commission has also noticed that the SIM recordings were carried out between 12:00 and 6:00, without any credible explanation provided by Airtel.

As a result of these violations, the NCC has imposed the following sanctions:

-₦ 5 million for not having suspended third -party SIM recordings using unauthorized devices.
– ₦ 12.6 million for the 63 cases of premature sim activations.

– ₦ 81.4 million for the ineffective eye bulb, which led to 407 fraudulent recordings.

-₦ 5 million for not having provided satisfactory explanations on the recordings of the night SIM.

The total fine amounts to ₦ 104 million, which the Commission ordered Airtel to pay within seven days from the date of the notice.

“Please note that, with this letter, Airtel is also strongly warned to deserve from conducting the recordings and activation of MSISDNS without respecting the company rules and the provisions of the registration of the regulations of the subscribers of communications 2022,” said the notice.

The NCC stressed that the sanctions are in line with the provisions of the Nigerian Communications (Process Process) 2019 regulations and have reaffirmed their commitment to support integrity in the telecommunications sector.

As at the time of the publication of this report, Airtel Nigeria did not publicly respond to the penalties of the NCC.

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