In apparent disobedience to the order of the Competition and Consumer Protection Tribunal, CCPT, sitting in Abuja, Multichoice Nigeria has brazenly hiked the subscription rates for its DStv and GOtv packages.
Recall that CCPT had, on Monday, restrained Multi-Choice
Nigeria Limited from increasing its subscription tariffs and cost of products
and services scheduled to begin on May 1.
We learnt that the new prices have taken effect, leaving
millions of subscribers with no choice but to pay the increased rates.
The development has sparked outrage among customers, who
feel betrayed by Multichoice’s disregard for the legal system and its
customers’ interests.
The CCPT’s ruling had been hailed as a victory for consumers, who had protested the price hike citing economic hardship and the company’s failure to justify the increase, but the defiance of the court order by Multichoice raises questions about its commitment to ethical business practices and respect for the law.
Meanwhile, the CCPT, has granted an application for
substituted service of the interim order, restraining Multi-Choice Nigeria
Limited from its plan to increase tariffs on DStv and Gotv packages which have
began.
The three-member tribunal, presided over by Saratu Shafii,
granted the applicant’s motion, following allegations that officers of the
pay-TV firm in Abuja office refused to receive service of the order and other
court documents.
The applicant, Festus Onifade, told NAN on Wednesday that
the CCPT bailiff alleged that one of the company’s top managers at the Abuja
office said the documents should be channelled through their Lagos office,
which is the headquarters.
The tribunal, therefore, granted the order of substituted
service pursuant to Section 48 of the Federal Competition and Consumer
Protection Act, FCCPA, 2018 and Part N, Order 14 Rule 11(1) of the CCPT Rule,
2021.
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