The Nigerian Senate has summoned MultiChoice’s DSTV to appear before it and explain its controversial billing practices, which many subscribers describe as exploitative.
Senate President Godswill Akpabio raised the issue during Wednesday’s plenary session, expressing strong dissatisfaction with how DSTV deducts subscription days in Nigeria even when customers are not using the service.
Akpabio noted that in South Africa, subscribers who travel for extended periods can pause their accounts without losing days, but the same does not apply in Nigeria.
“DSTV in South Africa, if you travel for one month, two months, three months, your card will not run. Your money remains until you come and activate it,” he said. “But in Nigeria, once you pay, if you travel for one week, two weeks, by the time you come back it has gone down.”
He added that the company charges customers on a daily basis regardless of actual usage, describing the practice as unfair, especially to families who travel for holidays only to return and discover their subscriptions have been exhausted.
The Senate President drew a parallel with electricity billing, where consumers are often charged for power they neither consume nor have access to.“The same way you’re not using DStv, you have travelled for holiday with your family, by the time you come back everything has been consumed, but it doesn’t happen in South Africa where they come from,” Akpabio stated.
He directed the Chairman of the relevant Senate Committee on Communications to invite DSTV officials for a detailed explanation, insisting that Nigerians must not be made to pay for services they are not using.
The move is expected to trigger further scrutiny of MultiChoice’s operations in Nigeria, amid long-standing complaints about high subscription fees and perceived unfair practices.
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