The Consumer Protection Council (CPC) and Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC) have constituted a joint committee to work out modalities to assuage consumer abuses in the telecom sector.
The Chief Executives of the two organizations, who took the decision at the weekend when the Director General of CPC, Mrs. Dupe Atoki paid a courtesy call on the Executive Vice Chairman of NCC, Dr. Eugene
Juwah, at the Commission’s headquarters in Abuja, gave the committee two weeks to come up with its recommendations.
In a statement issued by CPC Mrs Atoki, said time is rife for the operators to shift from their often highlighted challenges to making efforts at assuaging the feelings of millions of their displeased
consumers over poor services in the sector.
She commended the NCC’s EVC for initiating fines against the offending operators in line with his organisation’s enabling law, adding that moves must henceforth be made beyond the fines to ensuring that consumers get value for their money.
According to her, “the fines are legal and we do not dispute, but we want to move this beyond fines to see what we can do to ensure that consumers get value for money,” noting that “what comes out from our side is that the operators use the challenge of doing business as a reason why they cannot give value for money.
Mrs. Atoki told the NCC’s EVC that “we do have common challenges in the sense that as the regulator in the telecom sector it has come to light and you have said several times that the telecom providers do not meet the Key Performance Indices (KPI) that have been set for them, which has led you to, on several occasions, use your powers to fine them, which we applaud. Mrs. Atoki further observed that “from our side, as the protector of consumers, what we believe the operators should be thinking about is at the minimum how to refund the unused airtime that subscribers have paid for which due to whatever reason has not given value for money,” stating further that “I believe the time has come for the operators to recognize the fact that they have an obligation to the consumers to make sure they get value for money”.
The CPC boss, while assuring consumers of better days ahead, pointed out that the CPC’s intervention will extend to all sectors of the economy and that products and services must meet international standards.
Juwah, in his remarks, said his organization will support CPC in its determination to seek redress for consumers anyway the Council feels right with its mandate because “it is in line with our Key Performance Indices (KPI)”.
