The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), is set to deploy a technology solution “Revenue Assurance Solution” (RAS), that will monitor revenue generated by its licensees in a bid to block leakages in their Annual Operating Levy (AOL)
The Executive Vice Chairman, EVC, of the NCC, Professor Umar Danbatta disclosed this during an interactive session with stakeholders on the deployment of RAS in the Nigerian telecommunication industry.
On the importance of the deployment of the RAS to the nation’s economy, Danbatta said it would enable the commission to determine how much their licensees generate annually and not wait for them to submit information to the commission before determining what they should pay as AOL adding that the financial burden of deployment will be on the operators.
“This project relieves the Commission of the initial financial burden that will be required for the deployment of the RAS project. It will also ensure that accurate revenue generated by the licensed network operators are tracked, analyzed and utilized for the benefit of the industry.
“Beyond revenue assurance, when deployed, the NCC RAS will bring a lot of solutions to the industry, including a more effective and enhanced monitoring and regulation of the licensed telecommunications operators by the Commission.” He explained.
The EVC further said that the Commission believes that the deployment of appropriate revenue assurance solutions would enhance monitoring and regulatory activities around AOL administration, and confer higher levels of integrity and fidelity on the AOL figures obtainable in the industry.
“Therefore, in addition to plugging possible loopholes and leakages in the revenue computation and collection processes, the RAS would enable the Commission to validate the information, records and data that are supplied to the Commission by the licensees from time to time regarding, amongst others, the revenue stream and profitability of the telecommunications industry, the NCC Boss assured
He explained that; “the Annual Operating Levy, AOL, is a very important tool in the regulation of the telecommunications industry. In Nigeria, the importance of AOL is well expressed in the Nigerian Communications Act 2003. AOL can be described as the tap root of an efficient and effective telecommunications regulatory environment.”
“The mechanisms for collection and computation of AOL, are of interest and importance to both the regulator and the operating networks. Since the NCA 2003 came into force, various efforts have been made towards achieving a very effective AOL administration, pursuant to the powers of the Commission under Section 72 of the NCA Act 2003.
“One of these key efforts include the making of the Regulations 2014, which is also currently undergoing review. Some of the major objectives of the AOL Regulations, as provided in Part 1 (2) of the AOL Regulations 2014, are to:
(a) Create and provide a regulatory framework for the effective and efficient administration by the Commission of the Annual Operating Levy regime and all matters related thereto;
(b) Stipulate the mode and methods of assessment of Annual Operating Levy and the payment modes thereof; and,
(c) Specify guiding standards and principles for the administration by the Commission of the Annual Operating Levy regime.” He added
Professor Danbatta also said that, “The size of the Nigerian telecommunications industry, and revenue events engaged by the network operators, demand effective, accurate, and technology-driven revenue assurance solution which NCC-RAS represents.”
In his words, “Appropriate revenue assurance systems have resulted in higher revenues and plugging of leakages. Modern revenue assurance systems have also shown to be equipped with additional capacities to generate and analyse information beyond those required for revenue computation “ He stressed
Danbatta assured that “The system is designed to be connected to the licensed telecommunications operators’ systems and will have the capability of capturing and reporting in near real-time billing activities by the operators for the purposes, amongst others, of computing and assuring with minimal, if any, error margin, the accrued AOL payable to the NCC by the licensees.”
The NCC Boss, therefore, advised other government agencies who might need data not to duplicate efforts but to come to the NCC for it.
“This effort may be relevant to the FIRS for payment of taxes by our licensees and so there is no need for a duplication of this effort by another agency of government so the whole essence is to ensure a seamless cooperation of all MDAs that require the kind of data we will be getting from this effort for the purpose of computation of other levies, operating tax levies that are supposed to be paid to government. The benefits of this exercise is a very long one and that is why the Federal Government attaches great importance to this effort” he maintained
He said the Commission has a directive from the Federal Executive Council FEC to immediately deploy the technology
PIAK
