Tariff Hike: FCCPC Pledges to Protect Consumers against Unfair Practices

Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) has pledged to ensure the protection of telecommunications consumers against unfair business practices.

Babatunde Irukera, executive vice-chairman/chief executive officer, FCCPC,  made this known in  an interview on AriseTV following the recent move by the telecommunications service providers to increase tariff for data and calls by 40 per cent.

Irukera, during the AriseTV interview on Monday, further espoused and corroborated the NCC’s stance regarding consumers’ protection.

According to the FCCPC CEO, the telcos were in flagrant violation of market forces due to their arbitrary decision to raise prices, eliminating competition in the process at the risk of economic destabilisation.

“People should understand that we are not a price control organisation but we encourage competition in order for markets to be sanity but the telcos eliminated competition by increasing tariff — that is a flagrant violation of the market and an investigation is ongoing into the matter.

“Why are they coming together to ask for an en bloc price increase? We can only understand the pulse of the market if the barriers are eliminated. This is why it is a crime for these competitors to band together in order to arbitrarily increase the prices of their services,” Irukera emphasized.

Recall, telecommunications operators under the aegis of the Association of Licensed Telecom Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) had demanded price increases for voice calls, SMS, and data last week from Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) in a letter.

However, a statement signed by Dr. Ikechukwu Adinde, the Commission’s Director of Public Affairs, allayed telecom consumers’ fear, stating that operators will not hike tariffs without the regulator’s approval.