Multichice, FCCPC Head to Appeal Court on DSTV,

Multichice Nigeria and Federal Competto and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) both have filed at the Court of Appeal of Abuja for a recent federal judgment of the high Court regarding the increases in subscription prices on DSTV and GOTV platforms.

The legal dispute is focused on the fact that a private company that operates in a free market economy can be legally retained by a regulatory agency from altering its prices-and to what extent this supervision can be applied.

Judge James Omotosho of the High Federal Court had established that while the FCCPC has the regulatory authority, his powers do not extend to fixing prices for the services provided by private companies such as Multichicice, the Court also criticized Multichoice for having abused judicial trials – a sentence that neither party has fully accepted.

Multichice is challenging the sentence mainly to overturn the accusation of “abuse of the judicial trial”. Represented by the Senior supporter of Nigeria (San), Moyosore Onigbanjo, the company claimed that the judge introduced the question unilaterally without giving him the opportunity to answer.

Onigbanjo stressed that the cause in question was distinct from previous disputes involving different parts and topics.

He also argued that the Court made a mistake by rejecting the case of Multichicice, instead of hitting him – a move that prevents the company from filling himself.

He urged the Court of Appeal to put aside the dismissal and validate the legitimacy of the Multichice case.

For its part, the FCCPC is tempting sections of the sentence that supports its control authority diluted.

Discussing through Prof. Joseph Abugu (San), the Commission claimed to have acted in his legal mandate by issuing provisional directives to suspend the increases in prices waiting for a complete revision.

Abugu clarified that the FCCPC is not engaged in fixing prices, but rather acting to prevent exploitation practices by a dominant player in a regulated sector.

“Pay-TV operators as Multichice operate in a regulated sector. Being in a free market does not exone them from regulatory supervision,” he said.

The FCCPC presented an eight -point appeal, stating that the interpretation of the High Court of its statutory powers was imperfect and caused a judicial abortion.

He indicated the documented trends of frequent and steep price increases as proof of the exploitation of consumers.

“The graphs of the prices presented at the Court have clearly demonstrated arbitrary and repeated price increases that consumers of charges,” said the Commission.

In response to the observation of the Court that other companies were not taken targeted in the same way, the FCCPC claimed that its actions were based on specific complaints by consumers on the multichoice and did not have to be a probe in the sector.

No date has yet been set for the appeal hearing. In the meantime, the ruling of the High Court remains in force unless an execution stay is granted.

Public frustration remains high after the increase in the subscription of 1 March of Multichoice, its second, the second within a year.

Although the company has attempted to alleviate the discontent of consumers by cutting the prices of the decoder from ₦ 20,000 to ₦ 10,000 in June, many Nigerians remain dissatisfied with the limited alternatives in the paid TV market. [The Star]

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