Telecoms Operators Fail to Pay N1.17bn NCC Fine

Executive Vice Chairman, NCC, Eugene Juwah

At the close of work yesterday it emerged that the four major telecommunications operators, MTN, Globacom, Airtel and Etisalat, were yet to pay and might in fact not pay the fine of N1.17 billion imposed on them by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) for bad service.

The commission had on May 11, placed a combined fine of N1.17 billion on the operators for poor quality of service on their networks, and gave them till May 25 to pay the fine, or risk payment of additional two million, five hundred thousand naira (N2,500,000) per day for as long as the contravention persists.

The penalties were as a result of the contravention of the provisions of the quality of service regulations by the NCC as the operators failed to meet with the minimum standard of quality of service including the key performance indicators (KPIs).

As at Friday, THISDAY investigation revealed that the operators were not likely to pay the money, feeling aggrieved at the manner the NCC imposed the fine on them, insisting that NCC made a public show of the matter, rather than addressing it.

THISDAY gathered that the operators took a collective decision on the matter after a joint meeting on Thursday and vowed not to pay the fine. They had already expressed their grievances before the Minister of Communications Technology who promised to discuss the matter with the Presidency.   

When THISDAY contacted NCC yesterday to find out if the operators had paid the fine, Head, Media Relations for NCC, Mr. Reuben Muoka said “we are not going to mount security at the banks on this issue of sanctions. If they paid at close of business on Friday, how do we know until the banks open on Monday for business?”    

Chairman of the Assoc-iation of Licensed Telecoms Operators of Nigeria (ALT-ON), Mr. Gbenga Adebayo in a chat with THISDAY, blamed NCC, policy makers and the federal government for the current poor quality of service across networks, insisting that the operators would do better, if given the right environment to operate. “NCC is aware of our predicaments as telecoms service providers, yet it went to make a public show by imposing fine on telecoms operators, instead of helping operators to solve the problems,” Adebayo said.
Immediately the fine was imposed two weeks ago, telecoms operators besieged the Abuja office of NCC to press on NCC to drop the fine option, but NCC insisted they should pay the fine.

Commending NCC for the fine, President of the National Association of Telecoms Subscribers (NATCOMS), Mr. Deolu Ogunbanjo, called on NCC to redirect the N1.17 billion fine.

He suggested that the amount be shared among affected telecoms subscribers. According to him, the action of NCC amounted to raising money for government, leaving the subscribers out of the matter, when in actual sense it was the subscribers that suffered the pains and loss of money associated with poor telecoms service offering.

Following the unending poor quality of service situation across networks, NCC, penultimate week decided to fine MTN, Etisalat, Airtel and Globacom, a cumulative sum of one billion, one hundred and seventy million naira (N1,170,000,000) for the poor quality of services rendered to their different subscribers in the months of March and April this year.

A breakdown of the penalties indicates that MTN and Etisalat will pay the sum of three hundred and sixty million (N360,000,000) each while Airtel is to pay the sum of two hundred and seventy million naira (N270,000,000). Globacom is to pay a penalty in the sum of one hundred and eighty million naira (N180,000,000).

In the letter communicating the penalties to the different operators, which was signed by the Director, Legal and Regulatory Services, Ms. Josephine Amuwa, and the Head of Compliance Monitoring and Enforcement, Mr. Ubale Maska, the Commission said “All the operators are to pay the penalties on or before May 25, 2012 or be liable to payment of additional two million, five hundred thousand naira (N2,500,000) per day for as long as the contravention persists.”

According to NCC, it monitored the performance of the operators on the different parameters, in line with the provisions of the regulation, as provided for the Commission, and discovered that operators were in contravention of the provisions.

Paragraph 13 and Schedule 3 Paragraph 2 of the Quality of Service Regulation 2012, provides that any company which contravenes the provision will be liable to pay fine of fifteen million naira only (N15, 000, 000. 00) for each parameter for a service contravened in a particular month, and a further sum of two million five hundred thousand naira (N2, 500, 000) for each parameter for a service for each day the contravention continued throughout the month that it’s under investigation.

Now that the operators seemed resolved not to pay the fine, all eyes are on NCC to see the next step of action.
THISDAY was informed that NCC may slap some further sanctions on the operators for their failure to pay the fine.

The options could be the possible suspension of the companies’ operations or the outright invalidation of their license. But an industry source explained that the companies could earn a temporary reprieve if they went to court - the path they have presumably taken.