Nigeria demands reduced pay-TV fees
March 31, 2022
By Chris Forrester
Nigeria’s parliamentary senate is pushing the nation’s pay-TV providers to reduce their monthly fees. Letters have gone to DStv, StarTimes and GoTV to cut their rates.
A Senatorial 7-person committee has been formed to examine recent tariff hikes by pay-TV service providers in the country.
The Senate has also directed all pay-TV service providers to immediately review their bouquet prices downwards in tandem citing the prevailing economic situation in Nigeria.
Senate President Ahmad Lawan has told the Committee to investigate how other countries are billed by their pay-TV broadcasters.
A sense of the problem now faced by pay-TV operators is the wording on the parliamentary motion tabled. It says: “Nigerians dumbfounded, outraged over Pay-Tv Tariff Hikes, demand for Pay-Per-View subscription model”, was sponsored by member Patrick Abba Moro.”
Last year MultiChoice Nigeria, had informed all DStv compact subscribers on August 22 2020, to expect a 13.3 percent price increase to Naira 7900 up from N6 975 effective September 1st 2020.
“MultiChoice Nigeria willfully and perpetually increases the cost of its bundles because there is no regulation whatsoever in the area of fixing rates,” Lawan said, adding that it was done without recourse to the economic situation of the country.