NCC to telcos: Attend to subscribers within 30 minutes at service centers, five minutes virtually

The days of long wait for the response of service providers at their centres and virtually, are fading as the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) issued waiting time to all telecommunications companies (telcos).

In its recent publication ‘Quality of Service Business Rules,’ issued in August 2024, the NCC introduced several new standards aimed at enhancing customer service in the telecommunications sector.

The guidelines stipulate minimum service standards, associated measurements and key performance indicators (KPIs) for telecom operators.

One of the critical mandates included in the new rules is that telcos must ensure subscribers are attended to within 30 minutes of their arrival at service centres.

“It must not exceed 30 minutes. The licensee shall provide means of measuring the waiting time, starting from the time of arrival at the premises,” NCC stated.

The commission also said customers must speak with live personnel within five minutes and the maximum number of call-attempts before connecting to customer care lines should not be more than three times.

“Maximum number of rings before a call is answered by either an IVR machine or a live agent should not be more than five.

“Where a customer decides to speak to a live agent, the maximum duration allowable on the queue/IVR should be 5 minutes before answering.

“In exceptional cases where a live agent may be unavailable within 5 minutes to answer the call, a customer should be given an option to hang up to be called back within a maximum time of 30 minutes,” the commission said.

In the rules document, the telcos were directed to block stolen Subscriber Identification Module (SIM) cards within five minutes of receiving a report from subscribers.

NCC noted that any further usage should not be chargeable to the customer from the moment the report is filed.