Since the establishment of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), it has been consistent in deepening and protecting the rights of consumers. Indeed, one of the core mandates of the NCC is to protect the rights of telecom consumers in Nigeria. The protection of the rights is enshrined in Chapter VII of the NCC Act (NCA 2003), that gave legality to the Consumer Affairs Bureau, a key department of the NCC.

Prof Umar Danbatta, EVC, NCC

At an interactive session recently in Abuja, Prof. Umar Danbatta, executive vice chairman of NCC, enumerated the efforts of the commission in the protection of the rights of telecom consumers.

Danbatta who was appointed NCC Executive Vice Chairman in November 2015 and reappointed by President Muhammadu Buhari in June 2020 and confirmed by the Senate on July 21, 2020, reiterated the commitment of NCC to protect Nigeria’s telecom consumers.

He said: “The consumer is king; hence our consumer-centric regulatory initiatives to ensure consumer protection; information and education have continued to top our agenda. “To further empower consumers, in 2016 we introduced the Do-Not-Disturb (DND) 2442 Short Code, which gave consumers the power to opt-in or out of unsolicited messages on their respective networks.”

The EVC said it was because of the importance attached to consumer protection that the NCC declared 2017 as “The Year of the Consumer” and set out with various projects to bring telecom consumers closer to the commission and their various network operators.

He said: “The commission also upgraded the NCC-Free number 522 as secondary complaints mechanism to further empower and resolve consumer complaints. We also issued directives on data roll-over and another on forceful subscription of data services and value-added services. The two directives have ensured effective protection of telecom consumers.”

Danbatta recalled that in 2019, the commission revised the NCC Consumer Complaints and Services Legal Agreement (CC/SLAs) with the operators in order to ensure prompt response to consumer complaints, and also reviewed the Consumer Code of Practice Regulations at a Public Inquiry.

He said: “We initiated the Mobile Services Management Systems, in collaboration with other agencies aimed at protecting consumers from the negative effect of substandard devices on the networks and the health of telecom consumers. The Mobile Services Management Systems project, when fully implemented, will help in combating the proliferation of fake, counterfeit and cloned communication devices in the telecommunications industry. Similarly, we have developed regulations on E-Waste.”

According to Danbatta, the regulations will ensure that we are also able to rid our environment of indiscriminate disposal of malfunctioning and disused gadgets, which are capable of posing health risks to consumers.

“I also need to mention our commitment in protecting the lives and property of telecom consumers by getting rid of improperly registered Subscriber  Identification Module (SIM) cards. We conduct periodic audit of the networks to ensure the MNOs do not harbour improperly registered SIM cards on their networks any further,” he emphasised.

Danbatta announced that 19 Emergency Communications Centres have been activated across the country.

He said: “ The 112 national emergency number allows Nigerians in distress to get help in emergencies. The 112 number has become a major channel of communication during this COVID-19 period as over 1,200 COVID-19 related calls were made to the 112 national emergency toll free number between March and June 2020 from the various ECCs across the country.

When Danbatta spoke at the 2017 Lagos International Trade Fair and Exhibition, he reiterated the commitment of the commission in its fight against the abuse of customers’ rights and privileges. He emphasised that consumers of telecommunications services deserved to get value for their money and be treated as very important stakeholders in the scheme of things as far as service delivery is concerned.

Danbatta maintained that his administration is fighting to protect consumers from unfair practices through availability of information and education to make informed choices in the use of ICT services. He said: “Our objective is to engage, empower, educate and inform the consumers about their rights and responsibilities, opportunities and solutions that are available in the industry. The essence of this is to reassure the consumers that the issue of protecting them from unfair practices is no mere talk. We have put the service providers on special notice about our current monitoring of user experience on issues of poor reception, wrong billings and deductions, automatic roll over among other issues, and if they fail to improve services to the detriment of the consumers, will face appropriate regulatory actions and sanctions.”

The performance of NCC has not gone unnoticed, as Yahaya Garba, Commissioner for Federal Capital Territory of the Public Complaints Commission, during a visit in July 2019 to NCC headquarters in Abuja, commended the commission for effective protection of telecom consumers’ rights.

Garba said: “For us at PCC, we would like to commend the NCC in recognition of its efforts in implementing the National Telecommunications Policy, regulating the telecom sector and protecting the rights of consumers and operating companies alike.”

Garba particularly stated that PCC initiated the visit to get familiarised with the NCC’s functions and operations with regards to telecom consumer protection, deepen areas of collaboration and solicit ICT capacity building for PCC staff by the telecom regulator.