NCC and the Controversial surcharge for Phone Blacklisting

If you use a GSM phone in Nigeria, you soon have to pay 40 kobo every month to a company called NETVISA so they can list your phone on a data base in case it is stolen.

NCC licensed NETVISA to provide a blacklisting service to switch off your phone when you report it stolen. That way, the phone will be unusable on any network in Nigeria thus defeating the purpose of stealing it in the first place.

A similar service is already available with your service provider once you can prove the phone to be yours but they only switch off the SIM card. However, for some reason, NCC curiously insists on giving the same responsibility to a new company who will charge you 40kobo EVERY month directly deducted from your phone credit irrespective of whether you use the service or not!

That means we will all be forced to pay this NETVISA Company N4.80 every year for as long as we use a GSM line! Seems insignificant... until you add it up and multiply with at least 50 million subscribers and you get a whooping N240m!!

Nigerians will be paying NETVISA at least N240million EVERY year for doing something that MTN, GLO and Zain have the capacity to do without charging a dime!!

MTN and Zain have already connected with NETVISA as at press time. Glo Mobile and Etisalat are yet to comply with the NCC directive. What consumers need to know at this time is, whose interest is NCC serving in this matter; the Nigerian Consumer, the Nigerian Government or NETVISA? Who on earth is NETVISA?

What was the process by which they were chosen to provide this supposed "service"? Has NCC explored other ways in achieving this objective without additional charges? Nigeria pays one of the highest charges for telephony services already; why is NCC trying to add to that burden?

According to the current agreement, the GSM networks will pay the charges to NETVISA which will be deducted from their remittance to NCC for the first 2 years. Subsequently, the charges will be deducted from subscriber funds. The question is why will the government pay for this service at all?

Who is NCC trying to deceive by absorbing the cost for the first two years? Whichever way you look at it, the Nigerian consumer will pay either indirectly through government funds for two years or directly after.

Why is this service being made compulsory anyway? Is it insurance? If so, is NETVISA a registered insurance company? If it is just an added service like a ring tone or wall paper, why can’t the GSM networks provide it to the consumer on request?

Why must we all be passive subscribers to a service we may NEVER need? Is someone trying to scheme the hapless consumer of more of his hard earned Naira again with bogus services?

N4.80k annually seems negligible to one consumer but with the millions of GSM subscribers already on the 4 networks and more signing on every day, the gross due to NETVISA is alarming! For a service maybe less than 10% of us will ever need? It is definitely not acceptable.

NCC has some explaining to do to the Nigerian consumer. Why are we being forced to take a service that is not essential to our consumption of the telecoms service? This service must be optional if it is even to be allowed at all. And NCC should seek the existing Networks option first before seeking a third party or are there personal interests involved here?

The Consumer Protection Council needs to speak up for the Nigerian consumer on this issue. We cannot continue to allow these kinds of violation of consumer rights just because majority of consumers are not aware that they have rights which must be upheld by public and private service providers.

Consumers also must organize effectively to resist this move. Except NCC can explain to us in copious details that the intended service will be optional, (thus protecting the consumer's right to choose) and will not cost us or the Nigerian government any additional charge, we cannot consent to such draconian levies through the back door.

I found out this week that it is possible to file a class action suit in Federal High Courts now. Our NGO Consumer Advocacy Forum is willing to collaborate with other consumer organizations and individuals to challenge NCC's right to enforce this charge on us if necessary.

You can join us by sending an email or joining the group Consumers against Compulsory Phone Blacklisting Charges on our social network www.cafonnigeria.ning.com. You can also email, call or text the address above.

Better still; let’s mount the pressure on NCC by sending emails to ncc@ncc.gov.ng. Here is a sample message to send.

“Dear Engr Ndukwe, I am a Nigerian Telephone Subscriber and I do not agree with the compulsory 40k surcharge for phone blacklisting services. Please explore the option of the networks providing this service on request at no extra charge. Thank you. Your name and cell phone no.”

Send a message that we do not consent to this charges. It is time to get active to ensure that we protect our rights. Let's just say NO!