I commend the tribunal for being driven by facts in making this call: “MultiChoice Nigeria Limited, the embattled operator of DStv and GOtv cable services, has won the legal suit brought against it by some Nigerian consumers over an increase in its service tariff.” Taking MultiChoice to a tribunal for raising the prices of its packages is not fair for an “imported” product.
The English Premiership has increased its TV deals. La Liga has done the same. The Naira has continued to lose value against major currencies. Inflation is ravaging the football world that Messi is close to earning for himself alone the budget of Abia State.
Yet, people want me to believe that MultiChoice (DStv, GOtv) must have prices frozen. Who has not increased prices on imported products in Nigeria? Provided people are not paying DStv to watch Enyimba, Kano Pillars, etc, they must be ready to open their purses. This is not entirely on MultiChoice!
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Sure – this is not to say that DStv is not padding margins. Nonetheless, you do not change that equation in the court, you take your flight and outbid MultiChoice in London for premiership games, and then return to Nigeria and make bazaar!
But remember – Nigeria has more important things than the next episode of Zee World!
MultiChoice Nigeria Limited, the embattled operator of DStv and Gotv cable services, has won the legal suit brought against it by some Nigerian consumers over an increase in its service tariff.
The Competition and Consumer Protection, CCPC, Tribunal sitting in Abuja, on Tuesday, dismissed the suit for lacking merit.
Earlier in the year, a legal practitioner, Festus Onifade, backed by a coalition of consumers, had instituted the case against MultiChoice over its attempt to hike the tariff of subscription bouquets.
Onifade instituted the suit, which has MultiChoice as the first respondent and the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, (FCCPC) as the second respondent, before the CCPC in March, praying the tribunal to stop the tariff hike billed to take effect April 1.
Tribunal Dismisses Suit Brought Against MultiChoice (DStv, GOtv) Over Subscription Tariff
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Watching cable TV is not a right, so asking the court to determine the price is a misplaced priority. Nobody has asked MultiChoice how it sources its own dollars to pay for European football packages, from the CBN or black market? It is not clear. We have to focus on the essentials, and stop inviting non essentials when there are critical issues to deal with.