Sales Promotions: CPC May Ban MTN Consumer Promotions
Stories by Goddie Ofose, Snr. Correspondent, Lagos
There are strong indications that all consumer promotions by MTN Nigeria may be stopped should the court case between MTN Nigeria and the Consumer Protection Council (CPC) pending in the Court of Appeal, Abuja, is decided in favour of the latter.
MTN Nigeria had approached the Abuja High Court to prevent CPC) from vetting its consumer promotion. However, the court decided the case in favour of CPC, hence, the legal battle shifted to the Appeal Court in Abuja.
Speaking exclusively to **Daily Independent,*** Mrs. Ify Umenyi, Director General of CPC) said, “For now, almost all telecommunication promotions are registered with the council and monitored, except those ones being run by MTN. And this is because we are still in court with MTN over sales promotions monitoring, and we are working towards getting expedited hearing and determination of that case.”
She said the council is working hard for quick determination of the case and as soon as this is done, every MTN Nigeria sales promotion would be stopped and look into for proper vetting and verification.
Our source, who spoke off record said, MTN is capitalising on the fact that the dispensation of justice in Nigeria slow. “They (MTN) are relying on the fact that justice comes slowly in Nigeria. But we believe that very soon this case would be determined and Nigeria consumers would emerge victor,” he added.
Analysts have criticised the manner which telecommunication companies in particular have embarked upon making Nigerian millionaires with little or no improvement on the service delivery. However, several of these promotions have been tagged a rip-off and few actually fairly above par.
She said, “We have all along tried to ensure that prizes promised consumers of sales promotions are not only real, but that they are actually given to the winners of such promotions. This is what we have been doing with GSM companies, and where we notice that information concerning any promotion is not clear enough for the average consumer to comprehend, we raise objections.
“However, we will not hesitate to stop any sales promotion mid-way, if we get the slightest prompting from consumers that they are being conducted unfairly, particularly if there is evidence of rip-off.”
She advised consumers not to hesitate to furnish the council with their experience on any consumer promotions from time to time, so that they can nip in bud any suspicious promotions. “Our advice to consumers, therefore, is to furnish us with their experience from time to time to enable us nip unethical practices in the bud,” she said.
Most times, she added, businesses exploit consumers’ vulnerability by promising one thing and doing another. One aspect of GSM promotions that we are currently studying is whether the so called prizes consumers are said to win are not just a little fraction of what consumers themselves would have paid cumulatively to these companies through premium charges of N50 – N100 for text messages. If it is discovered that this is the case, then we will not only take up the issues with the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), but also bar companies involved from running such promotions. As a matter of fact, telecom companies are licensed to render telecom services, not to look for other avenues outside their scope of operation to make money. That will be unethical and illegal,” she stressed.
However, the director general said the council’s position on sales promotions by GSM companies is not different from its position on the promotion of all other products and services in Nigeria. “The council’s rule on sales promotions provides that all sales promotions whose total worth of prizes to be won exceed N250,000 must be registered with the council to enable us verify their genuineness and ensure that such promotions are legal, decent, honest and truthful. We also ensure that consumers are dealt with fairly, honourably and that the promos are not designed to abuse their trust or exploit their lack of knowledge or experience,” she said adding that almost all telecommunication promotions are registered with and monitored by the council, except those ones being run by MTN.”
Responding to allege ban of some telecom’s sales promos by NCC, Mrs. Umenyi stated that if it is true that Nigerian Communication Commission is planning to wield the big stick, the commission would not be overstepping its bounds. “NCC will not be over-stepping its bounds if it is to take any such step. First and foremost, even the telecom sales promotions that we register and monitor must have evidence of NCC’s approval. NCC is the sector-specific regulator for telecommunication services in Nigeria and the commission has every power and responsibility to over-see the affairs of that sector, including approval of sales promotions of telecom companies.”
According to the council, a promotion may be said to be good if it has been approved, registered and subjected to the monitoring of the council, which represents the entire consumer population in Nigeria. In addition, such a promotion must be manifestly seen to be conducted fairly, truthfully, decently and with utmost good faith to reward consumers, not to enrich businesses at the expense of the populace.