Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

News

NCC Accepts Deadline Extension for Payment of $5.2b MTN Fine

By Yemi Adebowale

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has accepted the demand by MTN that the N1.4trillion ($5.2 billion) fine imposed on the company for failing to cut off unregistered SIM cards be paid at the end of ongoing discussion with the Federal Government.

MTN said in a statement on Monday that the NCC has pushed back a Monday deadline for payment of the fine until talks have been concluded.

The deadline for payment of the fine expires on Monday evening.

MTN was accused of harboring some 5.2million unregistered SIM cards on its network.

The NCC has been pushing operators to verify the identity of their subscribers, concerned that unregistered SIM cards were being used for criminal activity in a country facing insurgency from the Boko Haram sect.
The MTN’s statement reads: “Although the NCC set a deadline for payment of the fine by Monday, 16 November 2015 (today), shareholders are advised that the Nigerian authorities have, without prejudice, agreed that the imposed fine will not be payable until the negotiations have been concluded.

“Shareholders are advised that the Executive Chairman of the Company, Mr. Phuthuma Nhleko, has personally met with the Nigerian authorities to continue the ongoing discussions with them regarding the fine of N200,000 for each unregistered subscriber (the fine), the equivalent of $5.2 billion imposed on MTN Nigeria by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC). These discussions include matters of non-compliance and the remedial measures that may have to be adopted to address this.

“Accordingly, shareholders are advised to continue to exercise caution when dealing in the company’s securities until a further announcement is made.

“MTN is committed to resolving the matter together with the NCC as soon as possible and will continue to update stakeholders of any material developments regarding the afore-mentioned fine via SENS.”

__________

Follow us on Twitter at @thesignalng

Copyright 2015 SIGNAL. Permission to use portions of this article is granted provided appropriate credits are given to www.signalng.com and other relevant sources.

Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Advertisement

Related

News

The Nigeria-China Strategic Partnership has said Nigeria would soon sign a deal on ‘Digital RMB’ with China to enable a direct conversion of naira...

News

Nigeria and the U.S. have expressed commitment to strengthening bilateral cooperation between them through various economic sectors. The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Amb. Yusuf...

Sports

The Super Eagles of Nigeria will return to action later this week as they face Rwanda in a must-win match for their 2026 FIFA...

News

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has directed workers and Nigerians to boycott major telecom providers, MTN, Airtel, and Glo, daily from 11:00 AM to...

Copyright ©