Lately, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), as the telecoms industry’s regulator, has come down heavily on the country’s GSM operators. In November 2012, NCC banned telecoms operators from bombarding their customers with unsolicited messages in the name of promos, lotteries and advertisements. Before the ban, phone users had decried the excesses of service providers, whose abuse of market power and infringement of consumers’ privacy were all too disturbing.
Then came the fine of N1.17 billion on the operators for failing to meet key performance indicators on quality of service (QoS) set by the NCC. Four GSM companies were affected: MTN Communications Limited and Etisalat Nigeria were fined N360 million each, Airtel Limited was fined N270 million, while Globacom Limited was asked to pay N180 million. In February, the issue of unsolicited messages again came to the fore when the NCC slammed MTN, Airtel, Etisalat and Globacom with the cumulative sum of N22 million as sanctions for contravening the ban on promos and lotteries. For running a promotion, Globacom was to pay N2 million; Airtel, N4 million for running two; Etisalat, N6 million for three promotions; and MTN N10 million for five promos at the rate of N2 million per promo. To ensure compliance, NCC gave the operators seven days to pay the fines and said they were liable to pay N1 million for any day the contravention persisted.
The Commission’s director of Legal and Regulatory Services, Ms. Josephine Amuwa, stated that failing to discontinue the promotions and lotteries as directed by NCC was a direct violation of guidelines on adverts and promotions, as well as the Nigerian Communications (Enforcement Processes, etc) Regulations 2005. “In the event of further non-compliance with the ban, and or refusal to pay the sanction amount within the stipulated time, the Commission shall have no other option than to impose stiffer penalties in accordance with the powers of the Commission, including but not limited to payment of N1, 000,000 (one million naira) for each day that the contravention persists,” Amuwa reiterated.
No doubt, issues relating to poor quality of service and unsolicited messaging have generated heated public debates. At the National Assembly, legislators table similar complaints on a regular basis. The House of Reps is even proposing a law in that direction. So, it wasn’t surprising that NCC’s recent move was well received. To a larger section of the Nigerian public, GSM service providers had, until NCC’s clampdown, shown little or no respect for consumer rights. Many are quick to point out that flouting the initial ban on promos was one way to quantify telecoms operators’ arrogance and excesses. Having enjoyed a period of empathy-induced over-protection, which significantly bred pro-investor mentality in the industry, the companies are just too shocked to adjust to NCC’s improved enforcement of pro-consumer behaviour.
For telecoms operators, the escape route to exoneration has always been the country’s infrastructure deficit. At a forum in Lagos, recently, they once more resorted to the same argument, which, I must emphasise, is gradually becoming less convincing and more unpopular.
MTN retorted that it “generates up to 80 per cent of its power requirements”. And that the network, being “one of the largest in the world running almost entirely on self-generated power”, expended billions of naira annually on diesel alone. The company also cited the insecurity in some parts of the country and the activity of vandals as clogs militating against improved service delivery. Like I said, this is a one-size-fits-all premise among Nigeria’s telecoms service providers. But with huge profits declared annually, is it still tolerable for consumers’ rights to be so violated? Should we continue to overlook the frustration suffered by Nigerians in the name of inefficient service delivery? When it comes to producer-consumer relationship, there are minimum standards in consumer satisfaction, regardless of any circumstance. The moment a producer agrees to sell the products /services to the consumer, such satisfaction must be met.
To strike a balance between investment protection and consumer rights, stakeholders in the telecoms sector should jointly examine the SWOT (Strength Weakness Opportunity Threat) of the industry and fashion out a workable win-win strategy to prevent unnecessary confrontation.
(The views published above are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the view of Nigeria Intel)
No comments:
Post a Comment