Despite Court Order, MultiChoice Remains Defiant, Hikes DSTV, GOTV Subscriptions

By Akinwale Kasali

MultiChoice, owners of DSTV and GOTV Satellite, has disobeyed the order of the Competition and Consumer Protection Tribunal, CCPT, sitting in Abuja. It has brazenly hiked the subscription rates for its DStv and GOtv packages to further heighten the complains of its numerous subscribers.

The Court had ordered MultiChoice to restrain from increasing its Tariffs, but it has remain defiant by shunning this order.

The move by MultiChoice has, however, sparked outrage among Nigerians and its numerous subscribers, 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.

The CCPT had 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, who spoke to the News Agency of Nigeria, 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.