Airtel Commits To Fraud Prevention After NCC’s N104m SIM Infractions Fine

Telecommunications firm, Airtel Nigeria has restated its commitment to transparency, customer safety, and regulatory collaboration following recent regulatory enforcement by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).

The NCC had served Airtel Nigeria a notice of sanction over some alleged SIM infractions in Kano State and consequently slammed a fine of N104 million on the telecommunications firm.

The Guardian had sighted a letter, addressed to Airtel Nigeria Chief Executive Officer, dated May 26, 2025, signed by the Head, Legal and Regulatory Services, Chizua Whyte and Acting Head, Compliance Monitoring and Enforcement, Mohammed Dari on behalf of the Executive Vice Chairman, NCC, Dr Aminu Maida, titled: ‘Notice of Sanction: Non-Compliance with SIM Registration Directive in Kano,’ where the infractions were spelt out.

According to NCC, Airtel infractions include unauthorised SIM registrations using 198 unapproved devices, resulting in 8,275 registrations outside the 281 verified Airtel shops; premature activation of 63 MSISDNs prior to proper SIM registration, contrary to the provisions of the Registration of Communications Subscribers Regulations 2022; failure to conduct effective eyeballing, leading to 407 fraudulent SIM registrations with multiple NINs, contrary to the provision of the Registration of Communications Subscribers Regulations 2022 and failure to provide satisfactory explanation for SIM registrations conducted between 12.00 a.m and 6.00 a.m.

On the matter, the letter revealed that there were some letter exchanges and subsequent meetings on the infractions between the telecom regulator and Airtel, starting from January 12, 2025, March 19, 2025, March 24, 2025, and March 27, 2025, respectively.

Apparently, after investigations and responses from Airtel, the NCC was not satisfied and this led to the fine of N104 million, which was to be paid within seven days from the date the letter was issued. Specifically, NCC fined Airtel N5 million, N12 million, N81.4 million and N5 million for the infractions respectively.

In its response to The Guardian’s inquiry on the matter, Airtel appreciated the NCC’s consistent efforts in safeguarding the telecom industry and saw the recent sanctions not as punitive but as constructive in improving service delivery and compliance.

Airtel said it remained a strong partner to the Commission and continued to align its operations with national telecom regulations.

“Compliance is not a checkbox—it’s an evolving commitment. We welcome NCC’s oversight as we strengthen our systems and further protect our customers,” said an official of Airtel Nigeria.

The telecom firm expressed thanks to NCC for the efforts to discover the breaches and pledged continued collaboration with NCC and other organs of government to promote the quality of service and safety of all telecom services customers nationwide.

The official noted that as part of its proactive drive to improve service quality and security, Airtel recently launched the Airtel AI Spam Alert Service, a landmark initiative in the Nigerian telecom space. This free, real-time solution is available to all subscribers—including those on feature phones—and detects and flags spam SMS before they reach customers.

According to the telecom firm, between March and May 31, 2025, the AI service successfully flagged 9.6 million spam SMS, potentially preventing millions of scam attempts and saving customers from financial and emotional harm.

This initiative highlighted Airtel’s dedication to staying ahead of increasingly sophisticated cybercriminal tactics. Airtel announced earlier this month that it is doubling investments in Nigeria to boost security, customer service, network reach and quality, 4G and 5G, fiber to the street, “we are working to update our system to combat all creative ways being used by scammers to exploit Nigerians.”

Source: The guardian