The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) has filed a law suit at a Federal High Court in Lagos against MultiChoice Nigeria Limited and its Chief Executive Officer, John Ugbe, for defying its regulatory directives on DStv and GOtv subscription price adjustments.
A statement issued on Wednesday by the commission’s Director of Corporate Affairs, Ondaje Ijagwu, indicated that the legal action was taken against the company following its disregarding the commission’s February 27, which ordered MultiChoice to suspend its planned price increase for DStv and GOtv services pending the conclusion of an investigation into the hike.
However, the company effected the pay-TV subscription price adjustments on March 1, disregarding the directive.
In the suit filed at the Federal High Court in Lagos, the commission hinged its action on three counts, namely MultiChoice’s obstruction of its inquiry, failing to comply with directives, and attempting to mislead it in its ongoing inquiry.
- Advertisement -
The statement partly reads: “Following the blatant disregard for regulatory oversight, the FCCPC has filed charges against MultiChoice Nigeria and John Ugbe at the Federal High Court, Lagos Judicial Division, on three counts of offences under the FCCPA 2018.
“Specifically for willfully obstructing the commission’s inquiry by implementing a price hike contrary to directives (Section 33(4)), impeding the ongoing investigation by ignoring instructions to suspend the hike (Section 110), and attempting to mislead the commission by proceeding with the increase without objection (Section 159(2), punishable under Section 159(4)(a) and (b)).
“By disregarding the FCCPC’s directive and implementing the price hike before appearing before the commission’s investigative hearing on March 6, 2025, MultiChoice has not only flouted regulatory processes but also demonstrated a pattern of conduct that undermines consumer rights and fair competition”, the FCCPC added.
In addition to the legal action, the commission hinted that it was considering further enforcement measures, including sanctions and regulatory interventions, to ensure compliance and accountability.
It would be recalled that MultiChoice had earlier, in a notice to pay-TV customers, informed them of the impending price review scheduled to take effect from March 1 this year, attributing the adjustment to rising costs of delivering premium contents.
In the notice titled “Price Adjustments for DStv and GOtv Packages”, the company stated: “Dear Customer, please note that effective March 1, 2025, there will be a price adjustment on all DStv packages. This is to enable us to continue offering our customers world-class homegrown and international content, delivered through the best technology.”
“While the Compact Plus and Premium bouquets will remain at N30,000 and N44,500, respectively, the DStv Compact package is among the subscriptions expected to be affected by the price increase”, it added.
Meanwhile, the House of Representatives had on Tuesday ordered the company to suspend the announced subscription price hike and directed an investigation into the frequent price increases imposed by the pay-TV company on subscribers.
Adopting a motion of urgent public importance raised by Hon. Esosa Iyawe at the plenary, the lawmaker rued the move by MultiChoice to raise subscription rates by about 25%, barely after it had effected a similar hike in May 2024.
Iyawe recalled that a similar subscription price hike in May last year triggered public outrage, pointed out that many pay-TV subscribers, who were already contending with rising costs of living, were compelled to disconnect their decoders even as they lamented the lack of competition in the pay-TV sector;
According to him, due to the seeming monopolistic nature of the market, MultiChoice’s consistently price adjustments of pay-TV price subscriptions always have negative impact and are putting subscribers under undue pressure.
Adopting the motion, the whole House called on MultiChoice to suspend its proposed subscription prices hike pending the investigations of its House Committee on Commerce on the announced subscription prices adjustments.
The committee is expected to report back within four weeks for further legislative action.
