The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has
uncovered large volume of forceful and illegal deductions by Mobile Network Operators
(MNOs) in the country, insisting that consumers must be refunded, reports
ITREALMS.
NCC, in a public statement sighted by ITREALMS, the
Commission noted that as a consumer-centric regulator, its dismayed by this act
by MNOs with great displeasure.
The Commission said this is unacceptably high level
of consumer complaints in respect of forceful subscriptions to Value-Added
Services (VAS), as well as airtime deductions for these subscriptions.
ITREALMS gathered that NCC mandated several
initiatives to tackle the menace, stressing these included the institution of a
comprehensive investigation and resolution process, the Do-not-Disturb (DND)
facility, and the imposition of sanctions for breach.
Additionally, NCC said, disturbed by the persistent
occurrence of the menace despite these measures, it had carried out a long and
comprehensive investigative audit into VAS subscriptions across all MNO and VAS
platforms.
The investigative audit was led by the Compliance
Monitoring and Enforcement Department of the Commission, with participation
from its other Departments such as the Technical Standards and Network
Integrity (TSNI), Consumer Affairs Bureau (CAB), Legal & Regulatory
Services (LRS), and Licensing & Authorisation (L&A).
The Audit Team analyzed subscribers’ Call Detail
Records from MNOs and subscription logs from VAS providers over a period of two
years, leading to the conclusion that a huge percentage of VAS services were
not voluntarily subscribed for. The audit team also found that some providers
had implemented disingenuous mechanisms by which large numbers of innocent
consumers were “forcefully” subscribed to VAS platforms, leading to regular
deduction of their airtime without their consent.
As all Stakeholders are aware, the Commission has
persistently insisted that actions of this sort are unacceptable as they are in
direct breach of the Nigerian Communications Act and NCC’s many regulatory
instruments on the matter. Such actions also undermine the very foundations of
the customer/service provider relationship, that is, transparency and trust.
Based on the outcome of the investigative audit, the
Commission will shortly be directing the indicted organisations to make refunds
to affected consumers as appropriate. The Commission is also considering, and
will impose appropriate sanctions as necessary. This outcome justifies the
Commission’s commitment to evidence-based interventions.
We wish to use this opportunity to inform the
general public that the Commission may suspend or outrightly decommission some
VAS platforms and services in the overall interests of consumers. We assure
consumers that these measures will be implemented with minimal inconvenience to
them, and trust that we can count on the understanding of consumers who may be
affected by these measures.
The Commission assures all Stakeholders that we will
continue to use all available resources to protect the rights of consumers of
telecoms services and to ensure that they get appropriate value for their
interactions with service and platform providers.
Chuks Egbune/GEE
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