Save the Shoppers, a Nigeria-based Non-Governmental Organisation, has condemned the latest 21 per cent value enhance imposed by MultiChoice Nigeria on its DStv and GOtv providers, efficient March 1, 2025.
The group alleged that, opposite to Nigeria’s expertise, the corporate diminished its prices in South Africa by about 38 per cent throughout the identical interval.
An announcement signed by the Govt Director of the group, Dr. Aliyu Ilias, issued in Abuja yesterday, described the increment as insensitive, exploitative, and discriminatory.
“Coming lower than a 12 months after the Might 2024 value hike in Nigeria, the brand new enhance overtly defies a directive from the Federal Competitors and Shopper Safety Fee (FCCPC) to droop all value changes pending the conclusion of ongoing investigations. It displays MultiChoice’s clear disregard for each Nigerian customers and regulatory authority,” it mentioned.
Save the Shoppers famous that the rise in subscriptions was accompanied by the corporate’s simultaneous enhancement of service choices and discount of costs for South African prospects.
It added: “In South Africa, MultiChoice has lowered charges on varied merchandise, added new channels, and launched options that enhance the consumer expertise, all whereas acknowledging the monetary pressures confronted by South African households. This double customary, reducing costs at house whereas rising them in Nigeria, quantities to financial discrimination and reinforces long-standing issues about MultiChoice’s exploitative strategy towards the Nigerian market.”
It declared that it’s indefensible for MultiChoice to quote inflation in Nigeria as justification for the hike whereas providing consumer-friendly pricing in South Africa.
It insisted that the corporate’s motion displays a disturbing double customary, with Nigerian customers persevering with to endure beneath a near-monopolistic market construction that MultiChoice exploits with impunity.
“Whereas MultiChoice claims the worth hike is critical to ship ‘world-class content material,’ Nigerian subscribers nonetheless face persistent challenges that stay unaddressed regardless of repeated complaints. These embody repetitive content material, frequent service disruptions, and poor worth for cash. Fairly than resolving these points, MultiChoice has chosen to penalise its loyal Nigerian prospects with increased costs, as soon as once more proving that revenue, not service or equity, is its main motivation,” it said.
It disclosed that South African subscribers profit from diminished pricing, such because the ‘Add Films’ bolt-on slashed by 38 per cent to R49, alongside further channels and enhanced streaming options.
The group mentioned MultiChoice CEO Byron Du Plessis’s justification that these adjustments are on account of ‘monetary pressures confronted by households’ additional demonstrates the corporate’s hypocritical and disingenuous remedy of Nigerian customers, who’re themselves grappling with a extreme cost-of-living disaster.
The group noticed that MultiChoice’s dominance in Nigeria’s pay-TV sector, enabled by an absence of efficient competitors, has emboldened its monopolistic practices.
