CPC Moves to Protect Telecom Subscribers

The Consumer Protection Council (CPC) has inaugurated a Compendium of the Rights of Telecommunication Subscribers in Nigeria as an effort to improve consumer education and protect the rights of subscribers from certain exploitative activities of some telecommunications operators across the country.

Omobola Johnson, minister of Communications Technology, who inaugurated the compendium in Abuja yesterday at the Consumer Roundtable on Phone Rights put together by the CPC, warned operators to play by the rules in line with CPC’s crusade, saying, “the CPC is an agency that can bark and bite.”

She said there was a need for the NCC to strengthen its collaboration with the CPC to address subscribers’ complaints bordering on poor telecoms service delivery.

Speaking during the event, Mrs. Dupe Atoki, director-general, CPC, said, “Like most interventions and innovations that have such an immense bearing on the general populace, abuses are prevalent.

Such abuses remain unabated if the consumers of these products or services know little or nothing about their rights in this regard. On the other hand, the conglomerates that provide these products or services benefit from the apathy of the uninformed consumers.

“The Nigerian consumers of telecoms services have been unable to assert their rights due largely to ignorance of these rights and where to complain.

Therefore, in celebrating the World Consumer Rights Day, with the theme ‘Fix Our Phone Rights’, the CPC believes that the way forward is to codify the rights of telecommunications subscribers so that they can access, read and understand these rights.”

Atoki added, “These rights come under segments such as poor network, unsolicited services, unlawful deductions/non-transparent billing, exploitative automated services, unauthorised SIM swaps/line disconnection, poor internet services and poor customer service.

“The Compendium of the Rights of Telecoms Subscribers in Nigeria was developed by the CPC and is being launched as part of the commemoration of the World Consumer Rights Day. The consumer can take the compendium, which is very simple and concise, to the relevant operators and say this is my right. The initiative is one step for us in our advocacy platform for public enlightenment in Nigeria.”