Resolves 11,288 of 11,327 complaints
Emmanuel Thomas l Tuesday, March 16, 2021
ABUJA, Nigeria – The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) on Monday unveiled a new Consumer Handbook as part of activities to commemorate the 2021 World Consumer Rights Day(WCRD), which is observed every 15th day of March.
The Consumer Handbook is a compendium of consumer information materials compiled to enhance education and protection of the rights of consumers as part of its commitment to Protecting, Informing and Educating (PIE) the telecoms consumers.
Executive Vice Chairman of the NCC, Professor Umar Garba Danbatta used the World Consumer Rights Day to reel out some of the things the NCC has done over the years to ensure that the telecoms consumer gets value for money as part of its PIE mandate.
“We had made declarations to curtail excesses of some operators and to expand the frontiers of freedom for the consumers. Warnings had been handed out and fines have been imposed on erring operators. Determinations have also been made by the Commission to ensure consumers are neither shortchanged nor denied their privileges and rights”, he said, stressing that the NCC did those things to reveal the extent it could go to defend and protect the interests of telecom consumers; and to successively restate its commitment to its ethos of fairness, firmness and forthrightness – the doctrinal tripod of its regulatory mandate.
The Commission, he said has ensured full compliance with Subscriber Identification Module (SIM) cards registration guidelines by the service providers and telecom consumers. This, he said is to ensure proper registration to stop the use of improperly-registered SIMs, which usage is difficult to track.
As he puts it, having a credible subscriber database helps in tracing a SIM card to the real owner in case of any criminal investigation, which will help in curbing the painful rise in tempo of kidnapping, robberies, banditry and similar crimes committed with the aid of the use of SIM cards.
“We have made arrests and prosecutions in the past in this regard and through this effort, we have been able to sanitize the telecoms ecosystem of improperly-registered SIM cards that pose threat to national security”, Danbatta explained, noting that the linking of SIM and National Identity Number (NIN) database will further help in protecting the consumers and all citizens at large.
While echoing the voice of Mr. President by thanking all telecom subscribers for their understanding and co-operation in the ongoing SIM-NIN harmonization exercise, he said the commission has issued a number of directions to service providers in order to ensure consumers are not shortchanged by telecom service providers.
“Some of the directions include: Direction on Do-Not-Disturb, Direction on Data Roll-Over, Direction on Automatic Renewal of Data Services, and Direction on Forceful Subscription to Data Services and Value-Added Services.
“The Management of the Commission also takes consumer information and education very seriously. Just recently, it approved the re-structuring of our legacy consumer outreach and engagement programmes”, he explained, adding that management of the Commission also takes consumer information and education very seriously and has consequently approved the re-structuring of its legacy consumer outreach and engagement programmes.
These modifications, he said were made to increase reach to telecom consumers wherever they are while also observing COVID-19 protocols.
“Some of the new information and education programmes include: Telecom Town Halls on Radio, a phone-in dialogic programme to be hosted via radio stations across the country where consumers at the grassroots level will be engaged in their own local language; Telecom and The Citizen – a biweekly Twitter Live Chat targeting social media users; Telecom TV Dialogue – a monthly television-based discourse on topical telecom issues; and Telecom Consumer Conversations – which is segmented and targeted at different consumer groups including: The Village Square Dialogue, The Telecom Public Sphere, The Professionals’ Dialogue, Campus Conversation, Market Conversation and the NYSC Conversation”.
The EVC noted that the flagship outreach programme, Telecom Consumer Parliament, is still up and running and that other Information, Education and Communication (IEC) materials like digital banners and factsheets in bookmarks format, have been remodeled in a way that deliver lasting value to the consumers.
In keeping with global best practice of digital public communication for information and complaints management, the NCC, he explained continued to leverage social media platforms of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube, to inform and educate consumers and to use them as complaints channels for the Commission.
“In addition, the NCC Consumer Web Portal serves as an alternative online channel for lodging complaints and making enquiries. The specially created toll free number 622 and DND short code 2442, are as active as ever”, he said, adding “they are emplaced respectively to enable consumers to escalate unresolved complaints earlier reported to service providers, and to manage unsolicited messages”, the EVC noted.
He reported that just last month, evidence was provided to the effect that the “NCC’s DND crashed unsolicited SMS by 96.6% in three years”.
“Also, the results we are getting through the NCC Toll-free Number 622 has been phenomenal. Thousands of complaints have been received from consumers and escalated by the Commission to service providers for quick resolution to the satisfaction of affected consumers.
“In our latest report, of the 11,327 genuine consumer complaints received through the 622 between 2019 and 2020, 11,288 which translate to 99.1%, have been successfully resolved”.
Besides, the Commission has reviewed the Consumer Complaint categories and Service Level Agreement (CC/SLA) which provides complaints categories, the timelines for resolving complaints and prescribes penalties for defaulting operators.
This, he said has ensured quantifiable improvements in consumer compliant management process by the operators.
“Additionally, in view of the challenges of security in the country, the Commission has completed and launched Emergency Communications Centers (ECCs) in 18 states and the Federal Capital Territory. The process for the completion of the centers in the remaining states of the federation is ongoing”, the EVC stated.
Earlier in his opening remarks, Executive Commissioner Stakeholder Management, Barrister Adeleke Adewolu said every year, Consumers International – the global coalition of over 250 consumer advocacy groups and entities in more than 120 countries and territories – organise activities on 15th Day of the month March, with a thematic focus that calls attention to a topical issue of interest and concern to consumers in all regions of the world.
He said that the NCC as a consumer centric organisation aligns with the 2021 theme “Tackling Plastic Pollution”, just as it aligns with all visions that call attention to concerns about consumer rights and the need to secure them, because the prosperity of any business or service takes life from its consumers and stakeholders.
He explained that in 2017, NCC expressed unequivocal commitment to the centrality of the telecom consumer in the telecom ecosystem by declaring that Year as Year of the Telecom Consumers.
“ Before then and after, we have been unwavering in our commitment to the primacy of the consumer in the architecture of telecommunications industry in Nigeria. For this reason, the NCC has received many awards, and we will not rest on our oars”, he assured hence the conference to recall policies, initiatives, programmes and activities of the Commission towards protecting the rights and addressing the concerns of the Nigerian telecom consumer.
In his goodwill message, Chairman, Industry Consumer Advisory Forum( ICAF) Prince Ighoovie Majemite noted that over the years NCC has created a veritable enabling environment for a robust telecommunication industry that speaks to good customer experience, adding that NCC’s steadfastness in protection of the industry and consumers rights and privileges are not compromised.
“In achieving her goals, so many players are involved and one of these players is the industry consumer advisory forum (ICAF). it is an advisory body set up by NCC to look at thematic issues in the telecommunication business in Nigeria.
“ICAF bandies these thematic issues and advises on implementable resolutions that are forwarded to NCC management. ICAF has provided many implemented resolutions like DND, Porting of phone lines, unused Data rollover and others.
He described the Consumer Handbook as very informative and educative as it captured the necessary things consumers need to know about their rights.
