By James Emejo in Abuja
The Director General, Consumer Protection Council (CPC), Mr. Babatunde Irukera has welcomed the Nigerian Communications Commission’s (NCC) push to sanction Mobile Network Operators with respect to unsolicited value added service subscriptions and unlawful deductions from consumers.
He said: “That this unprecedented yet, important initiative to protect consumers was the outcome of a long and comprehensive investigative audit that was industry-wide is laudable and corroborates the validity, and accuracy of incessant and persistent consumer dissatisfaction and complaints with respect to these issues.”
The CPC boss, while commending the telecoms regulator for the intervention, also assured of the Council’s abiding commitment to improve consumer experience in the telecommunications sector and determination to continue the enduring partnership with the Commission to accomplish this objective.
In a statement, he said: “We look forward to the effective enforcement of applicable standards and principles of fairness, transparency and responsiveness with regards to these and other issues within the sector, and will continue to collaborate to achieve the same.”
NCC had recently declared its readiness to sanitise the Value Added Service (VAS) segment of the telecoms sector by sanctioning erring VAS operators that were still involved in pushing out unsolicited messages to subscribers.
Some major consumers’ concerns in respect to VAS services include spam messages, fraudulent bank alerts, forceful subscriptions, among others, which NCC said negates the right of the telecoms consumers.
