Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) is considering a review of its Enforcement Processes Regulations (EPR) 2019 with more focus on non-monetary approaches to sanctioning erring operators, The Guardian checks have revealed.

According to a consultation paper signed by the Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the commission, Dr Aminu Maida, as sighted by The Guardian, the Commission is also considering asymmetric sanctions, where the sanctions imposed on smaller and bigger players for the committal of similar infractions are different to ensure industry sustainability, among others.

The commission also provides the basis for each of the five regulatory proposals that provide a broad outline of the proposed review and show the foundational basis for the regulatory thought process.

It has also invited comments from stakeholders that will help to shape the specific changes and amendments that the commission will put forward when it activates the rule-making process later in the third quarter of 2025.

The aim of the regulatory proposal, according to Maida, is to redirect the focus of administrative sanctions from financial fines to other administrative measures and regulatory actions. This deviation will enable the commission to rely on alternative approaches to deepening compliance and deployment of effective enforcement measures to deter licensees.

The second proposal is “to set liability for emerging and corrosive conducts such as call masking, call refiling and SIM Boxing; while the third regulatory proposal intends to widen both criminal and administrative liabilities related to offences and infractions related to interconnection, call termination, and call manipulation by both licensees and non-licensees.

The third proposal by the Commission is to provide clarity on general and specific administrative fines in the Enforcement Processes Regulations 2019, while the fourth and fifth proposals to outline administrative and liability measures against Board and Management of Licensees that perennially breach the provisions of the Nigerian Communications Act 2003 and relevant subsidiary legislations; and to outline measures that will enable the Commission to enforce asymmetry administrative and liability measures in the Nigerian Communications Sector to ensure sustainability, respectively.