One of the duties of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), which oversees the country’s telecom industry, is to uphold the rights of the country’s telecom users.
In line with section 104 to 106 of the Nigerian Communication Act, which mandated the NCC, to protect telecoms consumers, the Commission has, over the years, put in place Consumer-centric initiatives that ensure maximum protection of telecom consumers while providing the enabling environment for the licensed service providers to be able to provide good quality of service to the consumers.
Since becoming the executive vice chairman of the NCC in 2015, Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta-led NCC has prioritised consumer protection through initiatives like the Village Square Dialogue, harmonized shortcodes, NCC Toll-Free Number, 622, the 112 Emergency Number to seek succour during emergencies, as well as the Do-Not-Disturb (DND) 2442 Short Code to block unsolicited messages.
According to the Commission, these initiatives were put in place as efforts to protect, inform and educate consumers of telecoms services across all the 36 states of the Federation including the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
For instance, the essence of the Village Square Dialogue, as one of its outreach events, is to provide a face-to-face interaction among the NCC, the service providers and the consumers.
The harmonized shortcodes initiative is a measure initiated by the Commission in a bid to improve the Quality of Experience (QoE) of consumers by easing them off the stress occasioned by memorizing multiple short codes across all mobile networks.
The new initiative has enabled consumers using the over 223 million active mobile telephone lines in Nigeria to use the same codes to access services across all networks. For instance, the same code *310# will be used for checking airtime balance across all the networks.
„With the harmonized shortcodes, when subscribers port from one network to another, they do not need to learn new short codes in order to access critical services on their new network. In addition, the new policy will provide opportunity for licensees in the value-added services (VAS) segment of the telecoms sector to be able to use freed-up/old codes for other services, as well as enhance cohesive regulatory framework in keeping with world-class practices,” NCC explained.
The Toll-Free Number, 622 and the 112 Emergency Number to seek succour during emergencies was another great Consumer-centric initiatives put in place by NCC, to ensure safety and security of lives/properties.
For instance, through the 622 toll-free consumer complaints line, the Commission’s consumer web portal on its website and other social media channels, the Commission has resolved 99.2 per cent of service-related complaints received from telecom consumers across the major network operators in Q1, 2021.
According to the Q1, 2021 Report on Complaint Management issued by the Consumer Affairs Bureau of the Commission, a total of 3,019 consumer complaints were received from four complaint channels established by the Commission as compared to 2,854 complaints received in the Q1, 2020. Of the 3,019 consumer complaints, 2,995 consumer complaints, representing 99.2 per cent, were successfully resolved while only 24, representing 0.8 per cent, which were escalated to service providers, are pending resolution from the respective service providers in line with the revised Consumer Complaint/Service Level Agreement (CC/SLA) of 2019.
The commission also embarked on the construction and operationalization of the Emergency Communications Centres (ECC) across the country to provide a universal, toll-free emergency telephone short code (112) for use by members of the public in Nigeria to seek for help in times of distress/emergency.
“It was put in place to provide a one-stop shop for receiving distress calls from the public and dispatching same to appropriate Response Agencies (“First Responders”) who will respond to the need of the callers. To provide easy, effective and coordinated access by members of the public to Response Agencies (Police, FRSC, Fire Service, Ambulance Service etc.) in times of emergency/distress,“ the Commission stated.
These Initiatives have not gone unnoticed, as the Lamido of Adamawa, Dr. Muhammadu Mustapha, recently commended NCC for putting the interest of Nigerians first in all its dealings.
Mustapha, at a recent Village Square Dialogue (VSD), in Yola, Adamawa state, averred that consumer-centric events like the Village Square Dialogue marked a privilege for individual telecom consumers and businesses in the state to ask questions and get face-to-face response from the regulator on telecom-related issues.
Mustapha, who was represented by the Kakakin Adamawa, Prof. Abubakar Tahir, at the Consumer Conversation programme of the Commission with the theme: “Know Your Rights as Telecom Consumers” said, “The NCC remains committed to its mandate of protecting, informing and educating consumers of telecoms services across all the 36 states of the Federation including the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). This essence of the Village Square Dialogue, as one of our outreach events, is to provide a face-to-face interaction among the NCC, the service providers and the consumers.
“We must commend the NCC for the great work it has been doing in the area of consumer education and enlightenment. Aside from being the regulator of the sector, the NCC leadership has taken the issue of consumer information very central; and we thank you for bringing this laudable initiative to the good people of Adamawa.“
The royal father however advised the Commission to also consider exploring other areas that can lead to further reduction in the cost of telecom services and to ensure that services are available in most parts of the country.
“The Commission should kindly look inwards and ensure that all communities in the country continue to enjoy cheaper, better, qualitative and more accessible telecommunications services,” he said.
The executive vice chairman of NCC, Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta, said the regulator has always been at the forefront of ensuring maximum protection for telecom consumers while providing the enabling environment for the licensed service providers to be able to provide good quality of service to the consumers.
Danbatta, who was represented by the NCC’s Director of Consumer Affairs, Alkasim Umar, at the consumers‘ forum averred that, “The NCC remains committed to its mandate of protecting, informing and educating consumers of telecoms services across all the 36 states of the Federation including the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). This essence of the Village Square Dialogue, as one of our outreach events, is to provide a face-to-face interaction among the NCC, the service providers and the consumers.“
Speaking on some of the consumer-centric initiatives of the Commission, Danbatta said the Commission recently introduced the harmonized shortcodes which provide uniform codes for telecom consumers to access any consumer service type across all networks, either for airtime loading, checking airtime balance, call centres, data plan balance, and so on.
He reminded the consumers of the availability of the NCC Toll-Free Number, 622, which consumers can use to make complaints to the Commission on any telecom service-related issues they may be having with their service providers; the 112 Emergency Number to seek succour during emergencies, as well as the Do-Not-Disturb (DND) 2442 Short Code to block unsolicited messages.
“Information and education are key to the empowerment of telecom consumers. The protection of the rights and interests of telecom consumers is one of the mandates of the Commission, as enshrined in the Nigerian Communications Act (NCA) 2003. When telecom consumers are duly informed and educated, they are protected against the unfair practices by the service providers,” Danbatta said.
Speaking further, Danbatta said everything in the current digital world revolves around telecommunications services and that educating consumers plays an important role in informing them, clarifying issues, and empowering them through information and enlightenment.
“So, it is a great decision which will sensitize the people about their rights, their privileges and the expectations they have about the telecom businesses in the country,” he added.