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Tariff increase: NCC to sanction telecoms firms

By BusinessNews Staff on April 3, 2014

The Nigerian Communications Commission has warned that severe sanctions await service providers that indulge in illegal increase of tariffs for mobile telephone users across the country.

The Executive Commissioner, Stakeholders Management, NCC, Mr. Okechukwu Itanyi, who stated this in Kaduna on Tuesday, noted that the commission had not approved tariff changes on any of the networks.

Itanyi, who was represented by the Deputy Director, Consumer Affairs, NCC, Mr. Joseph Atoyebi, at the Consumers Outreach held at the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, was irked by complaints of arbitrary increase in charges by the service providers and warned that the commission would not hesitate to punish errant operators.

A student, Ahmed Waziri, had drawn the attention of the commission to the fact that one of the telecoms providers had resorted to charging subscribers for calling its service care centres.

The development led the commission to warn against arbitrary increase in tariff, because the regulatory body had yet to approve new charges for the service providers.

“We will sanction you (GSM service providers). We have not approved such tariff on customers service care,” Itanyi said.

The NCC official, who said the commission was out to ensure that consumers got value for their money, also urged subscribers to take advantage of the Mobile Number Portability, aimed at giving them choices and freedom, to be with the best network at any time.

[Punch]

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