The Federal Government has directed network service providers to reverse the unilateral 10 per cent upward tariff adjustment on its services.
A statement by the telecom regulatory body, the Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC), signed by its director of public affairs, Reuben Muoka said the attention of the commission has been drawn to reports in the media about a unilateral implementation of the recently approved 10 per cent upward tariff adjustments for some voice and data services by the service providers on their networks.
The statement said the consideration for 10 per cent approval for tariff adjustments for different voice and data packages was in line with the mandates of the commission as provided by the Nigerian Communications Act 2003 and other extant Regulations and Guidelines within the provisions of the existing price floor and price cap as determined for the industry. The decision was also taken after a critical and realistic review and analysis of the operational environment and the current business climate in Nigeria, as it affects all sectors of the economy.
“Furthermore, even though the tariff adjustment was proposed and provisionally approved by the management, pending the final approval of the board of the commission, in the end, it did not have the approval of the board of the commission. As a result, it is reversed,” it added.
The statement said the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Prof. Isa Pantami has maintained that his priority is to protect the citizens and ensure justice for all stakeholders involved. As such, anything that will bring more hardship at this critical time will not be accepted.
“This was also why he obtained the approval of President Muhammadu Buhari for the suspension of the proposed 5 per cent excise duty, to maintain a conducive enabling environment for the telecom operators. Much as there is an increase in the cost of production, the provision of telecom services is still very profitable and the subscribers must not be subjected to a hike in charges.
“Given the above, the commission, through a letter sent on the 12th of October 2022, has already directed the affected mobile network operators (MNOs) to reverse the upward tariff adjustment. The commission will carry out further consultations with all industry stakeholders on the best approaches that will protect and uphold the interest of both the consumers and the service providers.
“The commission will continue to entrench very transparent processes and procedures for rates determination in the industry. The process is usually carried out with wide industry consultation. It is through these processes that price floors and price caps for data and voice services are benchmarked, regularly reviewed, and determined from time to time,” the statement read.
It maintained that the commission will continue to abide by this time-tested process and international best practices to ensure an efficient pricing mechanism for the telecommunications industry in Nigeria.
