How to Stop Auto Renewal on MTN Data in Nigeria

Text NO and your plan’s code to 312, with no space: NO110 for the 7GB monthly plan, NO117 for 36GB. The plan then runs to its expiry date and stops, however much airtime is on the line.

1. Find your plan in the table below. To see what is active on the line, dial *323*4# or text 2 to 323.
2. Send the matching NO message to 312 from that line.
3. Repeat for any other plan on the line.

Do not send R and the code. R110 does the opposite: MTN’s data bundles FAQ says R plus the code opts a plan in to renewal or renews it.

In the myMTN NG app

Open the app, tap Manage Subscription, select the active bundle and turn auto-renewal off. That is the route on MTN’s auto-renewal page, and you need it for plans with no SMS code. Text myMTN to 5018 for the download link. MTN also lists auto-renewals among the things its Zigi assistant handles, on WhatsApp at 09033000001.

MTN’s pages give no USSD menu for cancelling renewal. Guides that send the message to 131 are behind too: MTN’s pages use 312.

How to tell it worked

MTN’s pages do not give the wording of the reply to a NO message, so the reply is not your test. In myMTN NG, open Manage Subscription and look at the bundle: the auto-renewal switch should be off.

Without the app, note the expiry date shown by *323*4#, *310# or a text of 2 to 323. If the plan is gone the day after that date and your airtime has not moved, renewal has stopped.

Cancel code for each data plan

These are the codes on MTN’s data plans page with NO in front, which is the rule its FAQ gives.

MTN publishes no SMS code for the 230MB daily plan, the 2.5GB daily plan, the ₦200 1GB Smart Bundle or the 20GB weekly plan, so use the app for those. Postpaid data plans have their own codes, and MTN’s example is No401 for the 14GB 30-day bundle.

Social bundles and other small bundles

MTN’s social bundles FAQ says these renew on the day of expiry as long as there is airtime, with a message before and after. A ₦25 WhatsApp bundle taking its fee every day is easy to mistake for something else. Some use STOP rather than NO, so copy the text exactly.

If a plan renews anyway

Only the newest plan in each group renews. Daily, weekly and monthly plans are separate groups, and with two monthly plans active, MTN renews the one you bought last. Stopping the older one changes nothing, so send NO for both.

A new purchase asks the question again. Each time you buy, a pop-up offers Auto-renew, One-off or Buy for a Friend. USSD will not go on until you choose, while an SMS purchase whose pop-up times out goes through as one-off. Choose One-off and the plan cannot come back on its own, even with airtime on the line.

The airtime may not be going on data at all. Dial *305# and open Active Services to see value-added subscriptions, where you can cancel one or all of them. MTN’s reply there is plain: “You have unsubscribed from”, then the service name. Browsing on airtime is another drain at ₦3.07/MB. It only happens after opting in, and *312*201# or SUSPEND to 312 turns it off.

Renewal also needs enough airtime, so a balance below the plan’s price on expiry day cannot renew it. Crude, but it needs no code.

When the deductions continue, dial 300, chat with Zigi on WhatsApp at 09033000001, or email [email protected]. Give the phone number, amount, date and time, the details MTN asks for on its failed-transaction page, and follow the ticket under Track Complaint in the app. If MTN does not settle it, the NCC takes complaints on 622, toll free, or at [email protected], once you have complained to MTN first.

Data left over when a plan stops

Stopping renewal has one cost. Data left at expiry is kept only if you buy another plan from the same group within the grace period: one day for daily plans, three days for plans of 2 to 14 days, and seven days for plans of 30 to 90 days. You cannot use it during the wait, and after the grace period it is cleared. The plans to choose from are on our page of MTN data plans and prices.