The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) has stated that it is seeking clarification from pay television company MultiChoice Nigeria regarding the increase in subscription rates.
Mr Babatunde Irukera, the FCCPC’s Executive Vice Chairman, stated this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Wednesday.
Irukera stated that the purpose of the engagement was to determine whether the company implemented a change in terms and conditions in accordance with the Commission’s mandated steps.
Our orders, he claims, were broad, and it is critical that compliance be prioritized.
“Despite the fact that we cannot and have not regulated prices except in limited circumstances requiring presidential approval and gazetting.”
“As a result, our order to MultiChoice did not prevent them from pricing their services in a way that was acceptable to both them and their subscribers.”
“We control price gouging.” Gouging is post-factual, which means that when a price movement occurs, we can investigate to see if it is excessive, exploitative, unrestored, or manifestly unjust.
“This is a very complex investigation, and the mere existence of any increase is not conclusive evidence.”
“There is a method for analyzing the increase and other factors that contributed to it.”
“As with pharmacies, we are pursuing prosecution for excessive increases in certain products during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic.”
“For the time being, the first check with MultiChoice is whether they have implemented, or intend to implement, a material change in terms and conditions (of which price is one) without the steps mandated by the Commission as conditions precedent,” he said.
Recall that MultiChoice announced an increase in DStv and GOtv subscription rates on Tuesday, blaming it on rising inflation and business operations costs.
The rates are as follows: Xtraview +PVR access fee (previously N2,300, now N2,900), The price of doing business will now be N2,669, Padi, which was previously N1,850, will now be N2,150. Yanga, which was previously N2,565 will now be N2,950, and Confam, which was previously N4,615 will now be N5,300.
Also, Compact, which was previously N7,900, will now be N9,000, Compact Plus, which was previously N12,400, will now be N14,250, and Premium, which was previously N18,400, will now be N21,000.
