Senate Moves to Curb DSTV’s Sharp Practices, Summons Trade Minister, NBC, CPC

Disturbed by the perceived spate of impunity surrounding the operations of Multi-choice Nigeria, a subsidiary of South African-based Multichoice Africa, owners of DSTV, the Senate wednesday mandated its Joint Committee on Information, Trade and Investment to commence the probe of the foreign firm.

The upper chamber also summoned the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment; National Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) and Consumer Protection Council (CPC) to explain why the firm has the free hand to act with such a degree of non-challance.

The committees were also asked to unravel the rationale behind DSTV’s unchallenged dominance in the Nigerian satellite television market which they believed was the underlying factor behind its sharp and unhealthy practices in the country. The move was spurred by a motion by Senator Isa Misau (Bauchi Central)

To enable the Senate get to the root of the matter, it also directed the joint committee to organise a public hearing involving stakeholders and civil society organisations with a view to ensuring that the menace of Multi-choice is brought to an end.

Leading debate on the motion, Misau recalled how Multi-choice’s unchecked sharp practices had forced some Nigerians to engage it in legal battles in the last five years over a myriad of issues such as arbitrary increase in subscription charges; its refusal to adopt pay as you use model; unilaterally moving major games from low subscription bouquets (COMPACT) to high ones (PREMIUM), poor service delivery, among others.

He added that its menace had pitted it against CPC which he said frequently received a load of complaints from subscribers over alleged consumer rights’ violations and consumer abuse.

In his contribution, Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu,regretted that whereas a number of companies had been exploiting Nigerians over the years, the CPC had failed in its responsibility to defend them.

“A lot of companies and service providers are exploiting Nigerians everyday including those in the power sector where we pay for electricity and we don’t have the energy; and in banks everyday, they are cutting their money from one service or the other and nothing happens and it is still going on,” he said.

After referring the investigation to the committees, Senate President, Bukola Saraki, emphasised the need to protect Nigerians’ interest from abuse by service providers.

He said: “We must pay our role to ensure that we protect Nigerians and ensure that the best global practices are what happen in our own country. So, I would want the committees as directed to look into the matter particularly to ensure that the CPC plays its role in ensuring that the rights of Nigerians are always protected.”

The committees have four weeks to report their findings.

-Thisdays

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