NCC tasks operators on disability desk

Telecommunications regulator, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), has tasked operators in the country to set up disability desk at their customer care centres.

This, NCC said, would assist greatly in improving the kind of service being offered the challenge group, namely the persons with disability and the elderly.

Giving this charge at the first Consultative Forum on Challenged Group (CG) organized by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Director, Consumer Affairs Bureau (CAB) at NCC, Mrs. Lolia Emakpore said it would improve the kind of services this kind of group receive at all times.

She said that operators need to develop services that would encourage the challenged group to be part of the e-inclusion in the society and particularly in Nigeria, noting that over 25 per cent of the nation’s population fail under this group.

Mrs. Emakpore in her presentation at the occassion said that addressing the need of the challenged group in ICT services provision is critical to achieving the e-inclusion and Millennium Development Goals (MDG).

She also advocated for a billing platform that is favourable to the challenged group, citing for instance, that through the use of Short Messaging Service (SMS) is discriminatory for some members of the challenged group.

Equally, she asked for special voice call charges for challenged group, stressing that it could come down from about N25 to N20, pointing out the need to check balances through voice prompt by CG.

Industry promotions by operators, she highlighted are passing the CG by which they tagged discriminatory.

“Challenged group can not participate fully in most of these promos,” she said.
In addition, they complained of having difficulty in surfing the Internet and mostly websites of telecom operators as there are rarely voice prompts added to the sites.

She further lamented the non-supportive access platform at consumer care centres and the imperative to have a register of CG in the country to pave the way for special services.

“There is need to incorporate teletype systems into service provision by operators,” he said, adding that they do not want to be treated with pity, but like every other persons.

Educational sponsorship and employment opportunity for challenged group, she said, is another call for concern.

“Communication services should not be discriminatory,” she warned.

In his remark, the Executive Vice Chairman (EVC) of NCC, Dr. Ernest Ndukwe, reiterated the need for operators to help out in developing services that would give rise to the challenged group usage of communications devices.

Ndukwe who was represented at the occasion by Director, Legal Services at NCC, Mr. Steve Andsenge said, NCC, has advanced plans to launch two state-of-the-art Consumer Centres in Lagos and Abuja to help in alleviating the challenges the group go through mostly at customer care centres.

He also said that these centres would assist in further stimulating awareness creation for telecom consumers.

He, therefore, urged telecom operators to re-organise their customer care centres to be accessible to the challenged group.


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