The Senate on Wednesday resolved to set up a seven-man ad-hoc committee to investigate the tariff hike introduced by DSTV and other pay-tv service providers operating in the country.
It also directed them to immediately review their bouquet prices downwards in tandem with the prevailing reality of economic situation in Nigeria.
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The resolutions followed a motion by Senator Patrick Abba Moro (Benue South).
Senate President Ahmad Lawan, while announcing the composition of the ad-hoc committee, tasked the panel to carry out a comprehensive investigation into how other countries are billed by pay-tv service providers.
The committee is chaired by the Deputy Whip, Senator Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi (Niger North). Other members are Senators Sulaiman Abdu Kwari, Oluremi Tinubu, Yusuf A. Yusuf, Lekan Mustapha, Chukwuka Utazi, Akon Eyakenyi.
Earlier in his motion, Senator Moro noted with concern the uproar within the public over tariff hikes, and price increases by Pay-tv service providers on their bouquets.
He stated that the leading pay-tv service provider in Nigeria (MultiChoice Nigeria) informed all DSTV compact subscribers on August 22, 2020, to expect a 13.3% price increase to N7, 900 up from N6, 975 commencing from September 1, 2020.
Moro bemoaned the hike in subscription fee for DSTV compact plus by 9.8 percent from N10,925 to N12,000, and DSTV premium from N16, 200 to N18,400 indicating a 13.6% hike.
He said, “MultiChoice Nigeria wilfully and perpetually increases the cost of its bundles because there is no regulation whatsoever in the area of fixing rates.”
The lawmaker expressed concern that thousands of pay-tv subscribers in Nigeria have bitterly reacted to the development on different social media platforms, ranging from deep shock to pure outrage with many asking the Nigerian government to checkmate the activities of pay-tv service providers in Nigeria especially in the area of fixing prices.
He added that among the bitter complaints of Nigerian subscribers of pay-tv services is the poor network service experienced as a result of bad weather/ epileptic electricity supply, which sometimes makes a whole month subscription wasteful without the subscriber watching anything before the expiration.
Moro said Nigerians are demanding that rather than paying fixed rates for packages monthly, pay-tv service providers should introduce a subscription model which allows subscribers to pay per-view to enable them to match their TV consumption to subscription as it is the case with electricity metering and mobile telephony.
He explained that the pay-per-view that Nigerian subscribers are demanding is a flexible model plan of subscription which allows subscribers of pay-tv to pay-per watch, to avoid paying for services which they do not consume.
The Senate, in its resolutions on Wednesday, urged the Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy and the Nigerian Communications Commission to direct all pay-tv providers to introduce a pay-per-view model of subscription as against the month-to-month prepaid model presently in place.
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