Customer NIN-SIM palaver costs N14b in 3 months
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Airtel Nigeria lost N14.1 billion ($34 million) revenue in Q2 2022 because some customers failed to link their National Identification Number (NIN) with their Subscriber Identification Module (SIM) as required by the regulator.
The financial result of parent company Airtel Africa in the second quarter ended June (Q2 2022) shows 13.6 million customs of Airtel Nigeria were initially barred, out of which 5.3 million later linked their NIN and 2.3 million have been unbarred.
This meant 8.3 million customers did not link their NIN by June, which Airtel said resulted “in a loss of approximately $34 million revenue in the quarter and a corresponding impact of 7.5 percentage points on the growth rate.”
Airtel recounted that “following a directive issued by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) on 7 December 2020 to all Nigerian telecom operators, Airtel Nigeria has been working with the government to ensure that all our subscribers provide their valid National Identification Numbers (NINs) to update SIM registration records.
“To complete the registration process, we must link the NIN information received with the SIM of the respective subscribers and share the same with the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC).
“The original regulatory directive set an initial deadline for customers to register (link) their NIN with their SIM of 30 December 2020. This was subsequently moved several times, with the last deadline being 31 March 2022.
“Airtel Nigeria was subsequently notified that with effect from 4 April 2022, all SIMs that have not been linked to a NIN were to be placed on ‘receive only’ status, meaning all their outgoing calls have been barred with immediate effect.
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Lifting restrictions
“Subscribers of such lines can still link their SIMs to their NINs in order that these restrictions can be lifted.
“A total of 13.6 million customers were initially barred out of which 5.3 million (39%) have subsequently submitted their NIN and 2.3 million (17%) have subsequently been verified and unbarred,” Airtel disclosed, via Nairametrics.
“As of the end of June 2022, we had collated NIN information for 40.7 million active customers.
“Revenues for those subscribers who have not yet linked their NIN with their SIM amount to around 7% of total revenues from Nigeria, and around 3% of total revenues for the Group.”
Airtel said SIM registration has accelerated and consolidation is occurring in response to implementation, potentially mitigating future financial impact.
It pledged to continue to cooperate with the NCC and help customers comply with regulation as well as minimise disruption and ensure they benefit from full-service connectivity as soon as possible.