Code to Cancel Auto Renewal on MTN: *312*1*12# or NO to 312

Since 17 May 2023, the NCC's deadline for shared short codes, every MTN data action has run through one number, auto-renewal included. The code to cancel auto renewal on MTN is *312*1*12#. MTN Support gave it on X in April 2025, and you dial it from the line that holds the bundle.

Texting NO plus your bundle code to 312 works too, and so does a switch in the myMTN NG app, the easier route if you run more than one bundle. Whichever you pick, the data you're using now stays until it expires. MTN won't refund it.

The code to cancel auto renewal on MTN has lived on 312 since 2023

In March 2023 the Nigerian Communications Commission approved one set of short codes that every network would have to share, from data plans to customer care, Voice of Nigeria reported. All the networks ran old and new codes side by side for a while. IT Edge News put the cut-off in May.

Old habits outlived the switch. Blog posts and WhatsApp forwards still pass round keywords from before 2023, and some of them lead nowhere at all. A few may now reach a stranger's service, since the NCC said freed-up codes could be handed to value-added service providers, the firms behind caller tunes and content alerts. That's why a code you find online needs a date on it, and why anything from MTN's support pages beats a screenshot forwarded round every family group since the switch.

Check the date on any code before you dial it. The rest of MTN's menu, balance checks and customer care included, is in this full list of MTN USSD codes.

Renewal only takes airtime if you said yes to it

Each time you activate a bundle, MTN shows a pop-up with three choices, Auto-renewal, One-off purchase or Buy for a Friend, and it's easy to tap one unread. Pick the first and the bundle renews at expiry, "provided you have enough airtime on your line", in MTN's words. Prepaid lines pay from airtime. Postpaid users see it on the bill.

That clause about airtime is the whole story. You load airtime for calls. The bundle runs out overnight. By morning the balance has shrunk, and nobody stole it: weeks ago you tapped that pop-up half-asleep on the bus, and the renewal is simply doing what it was told to do.

How you bought decides the default. On SMS, closing the pop-up or letting it time out makes the purchase one-off. USSD is stricter and won't let you go on until you choose. Renewal follows the bundle's own clock, not the calendar. A weekly plan bought on a Tuesday evening comes back for your airtime the next Tuesday evening, usually when you've long forgotten it. That timing is what makes the deduction feel random. It isn't.

Plenty of lines are already safe, and if you always pick one-off at the pop-up or buy bundles for other people, none of what follows applies to you. One-off purchases never renew. Neither does a bundle you sent someone through Buy for a Friend. And an empty line can't be charged, because MTN finds no airtime there to take.

Three ways to stop MTN data renewing

All three stop the next renewal. None ends the bundle you're on.

So don't wait for the current bundle to run out before you act, because the cancellation leaves your remaining megabytes alone and only removes the charge that was waiting at expiry.

By USSD

1. Dial *312*1*12# from the MTN line that has the bundle.
2. Choose the option that mentions auto-renewal.
3. Pick the bundle if the menu asks, then follow the prompts to the confirmation.

MTN's own instructions end at "follow the prompts", and published guides number the menu differently from one another, so go by the wording on your screen rather than a number someone copied.

Keep the confirmation text. If airtime goes missing later, customer care will want the date you cancelled.

By SMS to 312

Your bundle code is the keyword you bought it with. Put NO in front and send it to 312 from the SIM that holds the bundle; a text from your second line only touches that second line. MTN's help page gives R104 as the renewal code for the 120MB daily plan, which makes NO104 the cancel text.

Keywords don't share one pattern, though. MTN Support's examples were NO103, STOPWAM and NOD300, which tells you guessing a keyword from the plan's name is a good way to send a text that MTN simply ignores.

Copy yours exactly. Spelling counts.

In the myMTN NG app

Running several bundles at once? Use the app. Every active bundle sits on one screen, and you pick by name instead of typing a keyword you've half forgotten. Sign in with the number that has the bundle, open Manage Subscription, tap the bundle you want to stop and turn the auto-renewal toggle off. MTN's auto-renewal page describes exactly that path. If the app isn't on your phone, text myMTN to 5018 for the download link.

When cancelling seems to do nothing

Look at the SIM first. Dual-SIM phones make it easy to send the code from whichever line happens to be set as default, and a request from the wrong line changes nothing on the right one, however often you repeat it. Easy mistake.

Next, check which bundle you cancelled. The newest one in a category is the one that renews.

To switch renewal back on later, text R plus the bundle code to 312 from the same line.

What to do this week

Run these from the line that's losing airtime. Every code here is MTN's own or on the NCC list.

1. Dial *323*4# to see your data bundles and bonus balance.
2. Check airtime on *310# and write the figure down.
3. In myMTN NG, open Manage Subscription and look at the auto-renewal toggle on each active bundle.
4. Cancel any renewal you don't want, by whichever route suits you.

Writing the balance down feels fussy. It pays off if the figure drops again after you've cancelled, because you can tell customer care exactly how much went and roughly when it happened. Call 300 for that. An agent with a real figure in front of them has less room to send you round in circles. If MTN doesn't sort it out, the NCC runs a toll-free line on 622. The commission expects you to complain to your network first, though.

Not every deduction is data, and it's worth knowing that before you blame the renewal for every naira that leaves your balance between recharges. Caller tunes and content subscriptions are value-added services with their own billing, so they keep running after you cancel data renewal. Ask customer care which ones are active and how to end each. Do it on the same call. Saves a second wait. Then recharge as normal and watch the balance for a day or two.

For your mum's Airtel, Glo or T2 line, use these data balance codes for every network.

Some people switch renewal off for good and buy a bundle only when they need one. Here are three MTN plans on AidaPay, priced as at 8 October 2026. Prices can move during the day.

Plan	Validity	Price (with cashback)
MTN 1GB Data Transfer	30 days	₦520 (₦5.20 cashback)
MTN 1.5GB Weekly	Weekly	₦985 (₦4.93 cashback)
MTN 3GB Data Transfer	30 days	₦1,200 (₦12 cashback)

You can buy MTN data as a one-off for your own line or someone else's.

Dial *323*4# tonight. If a bundle you've stopped wanting shows up, cancel its renewal there and then, and the airtime you load tomorrow stays yours for calls.

Frequently asked questions

Published 8 October 2026. Prices and codes change - if you spot one that has moved, tell us and we will fix it.