Re: NCC’s Blacklisting Service Surcharge

This thread of e mails happened sequel to last week’s article. I decided to publish so consumers can understand the issues and form their own opinions.

Emma Eze’s e-mail to NCC
I have read the newspaper features on ThisDay Newspaper of Friday, August 28, 2009 wherein one Sola Salako was castigating the laudable initiative and was mobilizing consumers of GSM products against it

I want to seize this opportunity to apprise you that I identify with this noble initiative and wants to ascertain how to actualize it and activate it on my phone

The cost of N4.80 annually is really very insignificant considering the enormous benefits that are accruable through the Project.

I look forward to hearing from you. Thanks and best regards

Engr. Emmanuel Eze
Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources
Abuja.

NCC’s Reply
Hello Emma,
My name is Reuben Muoka and I am the Head, Public Affairs of NCC. Thank you for your understanding.
You are not actually going to pay. The NCC is paying. Sola's concern is that the operators will eventually charge the subscribers and as you have pointed out, N4.80k for a year is almost insignificant.
What Sola did not also understand is that the company will manage the data base of all phones being used in Nigeria for the benefit of NCC which is paying for the service. So, you need not worry about the deliberate efforts to insinuate that the subscribers will pay. If you operator hooks to the system, you are automatically protected.
The Commission will embark on some enlightenment campaign about how to maximize the full benefits of this programme. Thank you for this mail and I am copying Sola for her information about what people are saying and there are several others like you who are commending this initiative..
Reuben



My Response
Dear Reuben,

Thanks for your mail. I am glad my article is helping Nigerian consumers engage in this process. Your explanation to Emma is simplistic enough. However, it is important to clarify a few things:

1. At no point did I 'castigate' the initiative. As I have maintained, it is a good initiative and one that is timely because of the high incidence of phone theft in Nigeria at present.

My questions, as you know, are based on the following

(a) You told Emma the consumer will not need to pay. You however forgot to mention that NCC is 'paying' for the first 2yrs only. After 2 years, who pays; the service provider or the subscriber? Whichever, the consumer ultimately pays because the service provider will pass that cost back to us once NCC is no longer 'subsidizing' it.

While on this topic, may I ask how NCC intends to 'pay' NETVISA for this ‘service’? From the tax payers money I presume. Has NCC gotten legislative approval to deduct the whooping N300m or so monthly from its income for this project? After all, that income is ultimately the Nigerian people's held in trust by the government which NCC represents.

So contrary to what you clearly stated, the Nigerian citizen IS paying though indirectly. Let me ask Emma whom I have copied in this mail, 'Sir, if the Federal Internal Revenue Service FIRS made a directive that all subscribers should pay 40k monthly indefinitely as special tax, would you be this receptive to it?

Now imagine that FIRS decides to pay a private company 40kobo monthly to keep your personal data in a database on their behalf in case they need it. Would you pay 40k monthly for such a 'service' or would you encourage FIRS to spend tax payer's money on such a project?

That is what NCC is proposing to do.


(b)Why can’t NCC direct the Networks to provide this service and interconnect so we don’t need to pay a third party? Can the networks do it for free? If not, can they provide the service on request instead of charging all of us for it whether we require it or not? Those are the real issues, Reuben and though consumer Emma may not be very aware of these details, they are important in protecting consumers from exploitation, irrespective of whether the consumer is aware or not. That is my job as a consumer advocate.

If countries like South Africa offer the same service at no extra cost, why can’t Nigerian consumers get it without costing us or our government a kobo?

2. To Consumer Emma, 40k a month and N4.80 a year is insignificant. I agree. It is pretty insignificant to me too. But Emma and I are not the only consumers on the network; if my checks are accurate, there are about 60million of us. When you calculate the total, 40 kobo becomes billions in a year (2billion or so)...little drops of water makes the mighty ocean as the saying goes.

That 40k NCC is willing to 'pay' to NETVISA for simply saving the information of our phones on a computer server can be used to build more roads, hospital or allocated to Emma's office to enable more farmers grow more food to arrest the issue of food shortage. Nigeria can use that money for better and more productive things; especially because the service can be delivered in other ways.

Finally, is this charge insurance? It is only insurance that allows the risks to be spread over a large number of people who pay minimum premiums to cover them. Why doesn’t NCC negotiate with the insurance companies to provide this service as well as added insurance so if your phone is stolen, it can be shut down and the insurance can replace the phone. At 40k per subscriber per month, that is a better service than what NETVISA is proposing. Or will NETVISA take on that added risk too? If they will, then I will be glad to encourage consumers to take the offer. If not, what they are offering is not worth our collective investment of 40k per month! NO SIR!

In fact, I was discussing this with the Consumer Protection Council officials during the week and they kept pointing out to me that the decision to charge compulsorily is a violation of the consumer's right to choose. So even if it is insurance, every consumer still has a right to take the offer or decline it. NCC, with this package has taken that right away from the Nigerian consumer. That is not acceptable.

As laudable as the initiative is, and as needful as it is, NCC should please do a thorough job to ensure that the consumer is not vulnerable to exploitation by the structures it puts in place to offer us any service. Yes, we are needy now so the charge seems insignificant but what happens in 5 years when the incidence of phone theft has been reduced. Will we be paying this charge for eternity?

I would want to know if the Senate and House Committees on Telecommunications as well as the Honorable Minister of Information and Communications, Prof Dora Akunyili all approved this project with this structure. Has the Hon David Salako (we share the same surname; who knows, maybe we are from the same stock...smile) committee in the House of Representatives presented this project on the floor of the House or even the Senate Committee, and the National Assembly approved that NCC can pay this 40k charge on behalf of the Nigerian subscriber? Is this how public funds are expended on projects that could be reworked to give better value? I really hope not.

Reuben, please give the Nigerian Consumer the full details of this initiative. It is laudable, a good initiative and it should help to minimize incidences of phone theft and threats to life and property (though it will not eliminate it).

By all means, NCC must execute this project. But please, if it is possible to get it done at no extra cost to us, let us explore that option. If it is not, can the consumer get better value like phone replacement in case of loss? If not, can the service be optional so I only get it on request and pay at that point. I am sure one or all these options are possible if NCC would explore them.

But the way it is now, it appears like a clear case of collective exploitation of unsuspecting consumers and as a Consumer Advocate, it is my responsibility to identify such and raise the alarm. I am only doing my job.

Thank you.


Sola Salako
President
Consumer Advocacy Forum


p.s For your information, in 2007, I lost 4 phones at gun point in a salon in Ikeja Lagos. So I know the dangers of our situation. I repeat, I am NOT against this project. It is laudable, needful and timely. But please, let us make it sustainable, convenient and affordable for the consumer in the long term. That is my request.

I have copied the DG Consumer Protection Council for her information and I intend to publish this chain for Nigerian consumers to know what the real issues are.