The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), yesterday disclosed that MTN has so far paid N165 billion out of the N330 billion it imposed on it in 2015, as a result of its inability to disconnect improperly registered SIM cards.
The Executive Vice Chairman of NCC, Prof. Umar Danbatta, disclosed when he received the Chairman of MTN, Dr. Pascal Dozie and other top management staff of MTN Nigeria in Abuja.
“I am happy to inform you that our agreement with MTN on how and when to pay the fine has been adhered to. Just last month, March, we received a cheque of N55billion from MTN as part of the fine payment plan. This brought the total fine paid by MTN Nigeria to N165billion,” he said.
Danbatta added that so far MTN has not defaulted with respect to the agreed terms of payments. He also emphasized that the payments the telecom operator has made is consistent with the terms of the agreement the regulator reached with them.
The Nigerian Communications Commission had in October 2015, imposed a fine of N1.04 trillion on MTN Nigeria for not complying with government’s rule on deactivation of unregistered SIM cards.
Also, the fine was imposed on MTN for not disconnecting about 5.1 million improperly registered lines in its network within the stipulated deadline.
After several appeals and negotiations, including diplomatic intervention by the South African government, the fine was reduced to N330billion.
MTN initially made a commitment payment of N50billion to the government while the remaining balance of N280 billion was to be paid in six tranches in accordance with the agreements between the regulator and MTN.