Abuja, Nigeria
The Competition and Consumer Protection Tribunal has fined Multichoice Nigeria N150 million for disputing the court’s jurisdiction and ordered the company to provide Nigerians with a one-month free subscription to its subscribers.
A three-man panel led by Thomas Okusu gave the verdict on Friday against Multichoice, the owners of the Pay-TV brands, DStv and GOtv operating in the country.
The tribunal had warned the company from raising its subscription fees without proper notice, following a lawsuit by Festus Onifade who said the eight-day notice given for the price increase needed to be revised.
In the suit, Onifade accused the company of unjustly increasing subscription fees without one month’s notice to customers, an opportunity he used to seek interim orders.
Counsel for Multichoice argued that previous rulings had settled price regulation issues. Still, Onifade said the notice for the price hike was inadequate.
This prompted the tribunal to affirm its jurisdiction and rule against Multichoice.
The court subsequently fixed July 3 for a hearing of the plaintiff’s substantive suit.
