The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has urged telecom operators to urgently address subscribers’ complaints of poor service delivery as well as deducting monies through unsolicited short message service (SMS), ringtones and games without subscriber permission.
The subscribers who spoke at the 20th edition of the Consumer Town Hall Meeting programme organised by the NCC at Sangotedo, Ajah, Lagos urged the telecom regulator to intervene and bring the erring operators to book. Most of the complaints dwelt on deduction of credits from their phones through forced enlistment into promos and games without their knowledge.
The complaints also include poor network coverage in their neighbourhoods. Operators at the town hall programme include MTN, Airtel, Glo, Etisalat and Smile Telecom. The apologetic operators deactivated subscribers from short codes of telemarketing texts at the event. The operators also promised to treat with despatch issues they could not redress immediately at the meeting.
Abdullahi Maikano, Director, Consumer Bureau Affairs, NCC who represented by Dr. Atoyebi said the programme was put together by NCC to bring consumers, service providers on one platform to address telecom consumer related issues. The event had the theme: Information and education as a catalyst for consumer protection.
Maikano said the topic was chosen to reflect one of the cardinal objectives of NCC of ensuring protection of telecom consumers from market exploitation and empowering them to make rational and informed decisions while making choices of services. He said NCC identified consumer education as one of the most cost effective mechanisms that provides and guarantees consumer protection.
Besides serving as proactive way of protecting consumers from making wrong choices, it serves as a preventive measure that protect consumers from being exploited and against fraud.
