House Urges Multichoice to Halt Increase in Subscription Rates Pending Investigation
Juliet Akoje in Abuja
The House of Representatives has called on Multichoice to suspend their proposed increase in subscription prices in Nigeria pending exhaustive investigations.
The House also mandated its Committee on Commerce to investigate the arbitrary increase in subscription prices by Multichoice with a view to ensuring implementation of cost-effective policies in the pay-TV sector for consumers in Nigeria and report back within four weeks for further legislative action.
These resolutions followed the adoption of a motion of urgent public importance pursuant to Order Eight, Rule five of the Standing Orders of the House of Representatives on the urgent need to Suspend and Investigate the Proposed Increase in Subscription Prices by Multichoice moved by Hon. Esosa lyawe at plenary on Tuesday.
Iyawe noted that Multichoice, the owner of Pay TV options DStv and GOtv, recently announced an increase in the prices of all its packages in Nigeria, citing prevalent economic factors leading to increased operational costs as their reason for the proposed increase.
He also noted that the 20%-25% hike in subscription prices would be the second time in less than a year, as the last hike was in May 2024 and that the increase in May 2024 sparked a public outrage and many Nigerians who were already dealing with rising costs of living were forced to ditch their decoders even as they lamented the lack of competition in the pay-TV sector.
The lawmaker further raised a concern that due to the dominant position of Multichoice in pay-TV, price increases always have a widespread impact and put consumers under undue pressure.
“The most recent hike in subscription prices announcement has triggered widespread criticism from subscribers, many of whom have taken to social media to express their frustration over frequent price hikes without a corresponding improvement in service quality and the seeming aloof stance of the government towards the situation”.
