The Federal Government has instructed telecommunication firms to roll back their most recent 10% increase in call and internet rates.
Telecommunication operators like MTN Nigeria and Airtel, who had previously raised the cost of their data bundles by roughly 10%, will now have to go back to their previous prices as a result of this judgment.
This is according to the information disclosed by the Nigerian Communications Commission on Wednesday after it acknowledged having previously approved the raise.
According to the commission, the initial consideration of 10% approval for tariff adjustments for various voice and data packages was under the commission’s mandates as set forth by the Nigerian Communications Act, 2003, and other current Regulations and Guidelines, as this was done within the parameters of the industry’s established price floor and price cap.
But it claimed that its decision to let telecoms like MTN Nigeria and Airtel evaluate the costs of some of their tariffs came only after a rigorous and realistic analysis of the country’s operational environment and present economic climate.
The NCC claimed that despite its management’s interim approval of the tariff modification, the board has since revoked it.
The Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Prof. Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, has emphasized that protecting the public and ensuring justice for all parties concerned are his top priorities, according to a statement issued by the Director of Public Affairs, Reuben Muoka.
In the statement, the commission opined that anything that will fuel difficulty at this crucial time will not be accepted. In order to maintain a favorable enabling environment for the telecom operators, he also got President Muhammadu Buhari’s consent to suspend the proposed 5% excise levy.
Even though the cost of production has gone up, providing telecom services is still highly profitable, so consumers mustn’t experience a price increase. In light of the foregoing, the Commission has already instructed the impacted Mobile Network Operators to reverse the higher tariff adjustment in a letter that was sent on October 12th, 2022.
The Commission will continue to communicate with all industry stakeholders on the best strategies to safeguard and uphold the interests of both consumers and service providers,” says the statement.
