Customers have complained that numbers are sometimes reassigned after prolonged inactivity or failure to meet operators' recharge requirements. The concern becomes more serious when the affected number is linked to a mobile money account containing customers' funds.
Under the Liberia Telecommunications Authority's (LTA) National Numbering Resources Regulations, adopted on August 19, 2024, and effective October 20, 2024, Section 20.1(D) provides that a telecommunications service provider may only deactivate or reassign a number that has been inactive for at least six months.
The regulation establishes a minimum inactivity period before reassignment. However, it does not clearly explain whether activity on a linked mobile money account must be considered when determining whether a telephone number is inactive. Nor does it expressly establish a procedure requiring operators to verify the status and balance of a linked wallet before recycling its associated number.
The issue is particularly relevant to customers who maintain separate SIM cards exclusively for mobile money. Such subscribers may rarely purchase airtime, make calls or buy internet bundles, yet continue using their mobile wallets to receive, send and store money.
A number that appears inactive from a telecommunications perspective may therefore remain financially active. The Central Bank of Liberia's Mobile Money Regulations, 2014 (CBL/RSD/003/2014), provide a separate framework for protecting mobile money customers. Section 13 requires mobile money providers to safeguard 100 percent of outstanding customer funds in liquid assets held in trust accounts. The regulations also require effective internal controls against fraud and the misappropriation of customer funds.
Section 27 requires providers to maintain functional complaints-resolution mechanisms, while Section 28 establishes obligations concerning customer privacy and confidentiality. These provisions are important because access to a mobile money account must remain secure even when a customer's telecommunications service or SIM card is affected.
The regulations do not, however, expressly set out a detailed procedure for transferring or closing a mobile money account when its associated telephone number is reassigned. That gap deserves regulatory attention.
Customers have reportedly raised cases in which individuals returning from abroad discovered that their telephone numbers had been reassigned, leaving them unable to access funds held in associated mobile money accounts. One reported incident involved a customer demanding reimbursement after discovering that he could no longer access his wallet.
These accounts require verification from the operators and the affected customers. Nevertheless, they raise a fundamental question: should a telecommunications company be permitted to recycle a number without first establishing whether an active financial account, outstanding balance or unresolved transaction remains linked to it?
Lonestar Cell MTN's published Mobile Money terms, for example, provide for suspension or closure where an account or associated phone line has not been used for six months. This makes it particularly important to understand how the company distinguishes inactivity of a SIM from activity within a mobile money wallet.
The issue is no longer simply about retaining a telephone number. Mobile money has become an important part of Liberia's financial system, supporting household transfers, business payments, remittances and financial inclusion.
The Central Bank's 2024 Annual Report recorded approximately 11.5 million registered mobile money subscribers and US$4.68 billion in transaction value during that year. These figures demonstrate the importance of maintaining public confidence in the security and reliability of mobile financial services.
The LTA and Central Bank should therefore establish a coordinated policy requiring operators to check linked mobile money accounts before deactivating or reassigning telephone numbers. Where a wallet contains funds, the customer should receive adequate notice and a secure process to withdraw or transfer the balance before the number is issued to another person.
Operators should also provide an affordable number-retention option for customers living abroad or using dedicated mobile money SIM cards. A mobile money transaction should be recognized as evidence of customer activity for purposes of reviewing the status of the associated number.
Importantly, the reassignment of a telephone number must never result in the loss of a previous subscriber's money or expose their financial information to a new number holder.
Liberia is investing in digital financial inclusion and expanding electronic payments. That progress must be matched by stronger safeguards for the people whose money moves through these systems. A telephone number may be recycled as a national resource, but a customer's money, financial records and right to secure access must never be treated as disposable.
