Officials of the Consumer Protection Council (CPC) on Thursday afternoon raided the head office the premier pay-TV service provider, MultiChoice Nigeria, in Lagos.
The CPC officials, who went with a warrant, were accompanied by policemen and journalists when they arrived at the company’s office at about 1pm. The raid saw CPC officials leaving with laptop computers and important documents about the company’s operations. The reason for the raid is yet unclear.
However, there are indications that it may not be unconnected with the hitch that has developed in the CPC’s ongoing investigation into MultiChoice’s consumer satisfaction initiatives. Sources at the CPC had disclosed that a hitch developed during a scheduled meeting between the company and CPC officials at the commission’s head office in Abuja on Tuesday. The breakdown was said to have been occasioned by CPC’s demand that MultiChoice should hand over personal information of its subscribers as well as its exclusive contract in Nigeria.
The MultiChoice team, led by Managing Director, Mr. John Ugbe, was said to have drawn the attention of the CPC to the fact that the company owes its subscribers a duty to protect their personal information. The company, sources added, took time to explain that releasing sensitive information about subscribers, as requested, would amount to a breach of the trust subscribers reposed in it when they signed up for its services.
MultiChoice representatives were quoted to have expressed readiness to cooperate with the CPC in its effort to ensure that subscribers obtain improved customer satisfaction, but rejected the demand that verges on violation of subscribers’ confidentiality.
The company had explained that one of the ways in which it provides customer service to its subscribers is by keeping the information they have entrusted in its care. MultiChoice was also said to have explained that its exclusive contract contains non-disclosure clauses and wondered what relevance it has to an investigation into customer satisfaction.
