NCC restates commitment to consumers as World Consumer Rights Day holds

With consumers’ interest and how they could get better quality of services as its focal point, Executive Vice Chairman (EVC) of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Professor Umar Garba Danbatta, has said: “we will abide by all the tenets of consumer rights in our day to day activities at the NCC.”

The EVC’s statement underpins activities of the regulatory agency which has manifest oversight functions over the various network operators in Nigeria.

And as Nigeria joins the rest of the global community to mark the World Consumer’s Right day on March 15, 2020, the EVC said the NCC had put in place a series of initiatives to always cushion and protect the interest of the consumers. The theme for this year’s event is ‘The Sustainable Consumer.’

For instance, it has over the years hosted the flagship Telecom Consumer Parliament (TCP) where consumer issues are discussed extensively in a high profile session where the regulator, operators and consumers interact and answers got in the process. Eighty-eight of such parliaments have been held so far in the major cities across Nigeria.

Besides this, no fewer than 110 Consumer Outreach Programmes (COPs) have been held. The event holds monthly in urban centres in the country.

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Consumer Town Hall Meetings (CTM) which exclusively hold in rural communities have been well-received across the land. So far, 53 of such events had taken place.

There have also been Elite Enlightenment Campaigns targeted at professional organisations during their yearly conferences.

This is done to carry along the high profile professionals who may not have enough time to participate in the TCP, COP and CTMs which hold regularly.

According to Danbatta, the Commission has developed and produced Consumer Education materials on major telecoms issues for distribution. The developed factsheets are translated into the three major languages (Igbo, Hausa and Yoruba) including Pidgin. Such materials cover the DND Campaign, SIM Registration and Replacement, role of NCC in consumer protection among others.

The Commission has in place different channels for lodging Consumer Complaints. These include: the NCC 622 Toll Free number for escalating unresolved complaints and for seeking redress is working. The centre is open 8am to 8pm Mondays to Saturdays. There has been consistent campaign on the 622 NCC Toll Free Line.

The web portal is also an alternative online channel for lodging complaints and making enquiries. The portal is available 24 hours and can be accessed via www.ncc.gov.ng/consumer among many others.

Nigerian Tribune