Globacom and Airtel have restored their airtime borrowing services in Nigeria after the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) temporarily halted enforcement of its digital lending regulations due to a court order.
The development means subscribers can once again access services like Globacom’s “Borrow Me Credit” and Airtel’s airtime advance option for urgent airtime needs.
In a notice released on Friday, the FCCPC announced that implementation of the Digital, Electronic, Online or Non-Traditional Consumer Lending Regulations (DEON Regulations) 2025 had been suspended following an interim ruling by Justice A.L. Allagoa of the Federal High Court in Lagos.
The court order came after the Wireless Application Service Providers Association of Nigeria (WASPAN) filed a suit challenging the regulation.
WASPAN chairman, Ayo Stuffman, confirmed that the affected services were back online.
“As we speak, the services in question are already active on Airtel and Glo. On MTN, I can speak that we are confident of the resumption of services given the recent developments from the FCCPC,” he stated.
The controversy started when the FCCPC broadened its DEON Regulations to cover telecom airtime and data credit offerings, categorising them as digital lending services.
Under the policy, telecom companies providing pay-later airtime or data services would have been required to meet registration, disclosure and consumer protection conditions, with violators facing penalties of up to N100 million or one percent of their yearly turnover.
However, WASPAN opposed the move in court, maintaining that airtime credit is a telecom value-added service already overseen by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), not a loan facility.
“What WASPAN has advocated for through the courts is that the DEON Regulations should not apply to airtime credit, which cannot really be classified as a loan in the actual sense,” Stuffman added.
The dispute had earlier led MTN, Airtel and Globacom to suspend airtime borrowing services in April over fears of possible sanctions.
