Court Orders MTN Nigeria to Compensate Subscriber N15 Million Over Unlawful Airtime Deductions
The Court of Appeal in Abuja has ordered MTN Nigeria Communications Limited to pay N15 million in damages for the unlawful deduction of a subscriber’s airtime through unsolicited services. In a unanimous ruling by a three-member panel of Justices, the court condemned the consistent deduction of customers’ airtime for the automatic renewal of services that were never subscribed to as fraudulent.
The judgment, which stemmed from an appeal identified as CA/ABJ/CV/137/2022, highlighted that the company’s actions violated subscribers’ rights to privacy as established in Section 37 of the 1999 Constitution and breached Regulation 28 of the Consumer Code of Practice Regulations.
The case was initiated by a disgruntled customer, Mr. Ezugwu Anene, who claimed he received over 244 unsolicited text messages from MTN regarding a service called Weekly Guidance and Counseling, which he never subscribed to. Anene reported that, between 2016 and 2018, his airtime balance was unlawfully deducted by N20 each time he received a message related to this unsolicited service on his mobile number, 08030735301.
Despite his complaints made at MTN’s Abuja office and efforts to activate a Do Not Disturb service using the code 2442, Anene argued that the unwanted deductions persisted, particularly for Caller Tune Services that were automatically imposed on him. The decision from the Court of Appeal underscores significant consumer rights issues in the telecommunications industry.
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