Owing to the increase of tariff of DSTV and GOTV by MultiChoice Nigeria Limited, the Competition and Consumer Protection Tribunal (CCPT) sitting in Abuja has stopped the satellite TV operator from the increase, which is scheduled to begin on May 1, 2024.
According to the News Agency of Nigeria, the three-member tribunal, presided over by Saratu Shafii, gave the interim order following an ex-parte motion moved by Ejiro Awaritoma, counsel for an applicant, Festus Onifade.
The tribunal, in a ruling, restrained MultiChoice from going ahead with the impending price increase, pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice filed before it.
“The 1st defendant is hereby restrained from taking any step(s) that may negatively affect the rights of the claimant and other consumers in respect of the suit pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice,” the tribunal ruled.
Multichoice had last week increased its tariff on DSTV and GOTV.
A breakdown of the increase shows that the DStv Premium package increased from N29,500 to N37,000. Similarly, the DStv Compact+ went up N19,800 to N25,000 while the Compact package increased from N12,500 to N15,700.
The Comfam package moved from N7,400 to N9,300. Yanga package moved up from 4,200 to N5,100 while Padi package increased from N2,950 to N3,600. HDPVR was increased from N4,000 to N5,000, the Access Fees package from N4,000 to N5,000, and XtraView moved from N4,000 to N5,000.
Meanwhile, the Gotv Supa+ package moved from N12,500 to N15,700, Supa package from N7,600 to N9,600, and Max package from N5,700 to N7,200.
While the Jolli package was jacked up from N3,950 to N4,850, the Jinja package moved from N2,700 to N3,300, and Smallie package from N1,300 to N1,575.
The company implemented an upward review of prices in December 2023, days after announcing a $72m loss in its financial statement for the third quarter of the year.
Checks on the company’s reviewed price list then showed a 20 percent hike in the company’s packages across the board.
Also, in defense of the tariff hike by Multichoice, Acting Executive Vice Chairman of the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC), Dr. Adamu Abdullahi stated that cited cost of electricity, generator operations and poor access to dollars as some of the reasons for the price increase.
Dr. Adamu, disclosed in an interview with Channels TV.
He said Multichoice submitted a 4-page document detailing reasons why it has to increase tariff on GOtv and DStv.