Senate probes telecom firms over failed calls, airtime deductions

Résumé détaillé

The Nigerian Senate has ordered a probe into alleged arbitrary airtime deductions by telecom firms for failed, dropped, and prematurely terminated calls. Read More:…

The resolution followed a motion on consumer protection in the telecommunications sector, which highlighted persistent complaints by Nigerians over deductions for calls that fail to connect, terminate abruptly or are disrupted by poor network services.

Supporting the motion, Nwoko said the proposed investigation was necessary to protect consumers from avoidable financial losses arising from poor service delivery by network operators.

“This is a well-thought-out motion. It is very straightforward. It is all about consumer protection. We need to make this particular motion at this critical time because a lot of the time, everybody is involved in the use of calls, making calls across the country, and we all experience the same technical issues,” he said.

However, during consideration of the prayers, the Deputy Minority Leader proposed that the Senate adopt only Prayer Six, arguing that it sufficiently captured the issues raised in the preceding five prayers.

The amendment, which was seconded by Senator Benios Yaro, representing Adamawa South, was subsequently put to a voice vote by the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, and adopted.

Reading the resolution, Akpabio said the Committee on Communications had been directed to invite the Nigerian Communications Commission and relevant telecommunications operators to investigate complaints concerning failed calls, dropped calls, unterminated calls and inflated charges.

The consolidated resolution brings under one investigation several proposals seeking an inquiry into the billing practices of MTN Nigeria, Globacom, Airtel and T2 Mobile; the establishment of an accessible complaints and redress mechanism; automatic refunds for verifiably failed calls; independent technical audits of billing systems; and stricter enforcement of quality-of-service standards.

Speaking after the adoption, Akpabio urged the Committee on Communications, chaired by Senator Bill Bills, to commence work immediately, describing the four-week deadline as…

He…

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