Tuesday 21 January 2014

NCC To Support Consumers To Prosecute Telecom Operators

The Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC)
has promised to give necessary support to any consumer ready
to prosecute any telecommunication operator in the country
over poor services.

Mr Reuben Muoka, NCC spokesperson, made this known in
Abuja on Tuesday in an interview.

He said that prosecution of telecommunication service
providers for poor services was another way to compel them
to get their acts together in service delivery.

Muoka said that the NCC Act did not permit NCC to
prosecute any service provider based on individual
complainant.

He said that the commission had established a Consumer
Protection Department to address the issue of complaints from
customers.

"NCC has the right to sanction operators but individuals can
also sue them in court in order to get redemption on their
penalties over sub service charges.

"The fact that NCC can sanction does not mean that NCC will
prosecute the operators based on individual complaint but
people can sue if they feel cheated and need a refund.

"The act does not prohibit anybody from prosecuting an
operator who fails to render good services as required, you
can sanction the poor service operators or port to another
network,'' he said.

Muoka said that some of the consumers had cried out to the
commission to assist them in cautioning the operators for
refunds on poor services.

The Minister of Communication Technology, Mrs Omobola
Johnson, Director-General, Consumer Protection Council, Mrs
Dupe Atoki; and Executive Vice Chairman, NCC, Dr Eugene
Juwah had in 2013 threatened to sanction operators over poor
services.

Johnson spoke in Lagos recently that the Federal Government
would prosecute telecommunication service providers who
continued to render poor quality services to subscribers with
effect from January 2014.

Similarly, Atoki said that the errant operators stood the risk of
jail term of not less than five years if ongoing investigations
revealed that they were deliberately short-changing Nigerians
through poor service delivery.

Via: NAN

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