The telecoms regulator said the strategy is aimed at ensuring direct engagement and monitoring of the activities of each licensed VAS providers. It would be recalled that the House of Representatives had in February 2013 commenced the process of empowering consumers of telecommunication services to challenge “the invasion of their privacy”, by telecom operators.
The lawmakers passed for second reading a bill for, “an act to protect telephone consumers from the activities of telemarketers and to provide for adequate sanctions against the business of telemarketing in Nigeria”. The bill sponsored by Abiodun Abdul Balogun sought to prohibit any service provider from posting any unsolicited advertisement for any called party. The bill is also seeking to prohibit any mobile service provider from calling any residential telephone line using an artificial or pre-recorded voice to deliver text messages (SMS) without the prior consent of the called party.
Online telemarketing was not spared as it was also prohibited except with the consent or application of a subscriber. They also seek for a fine of up to N5 million for anyone convicted for engaging in unsolicited marketing through telephony.
In the latest development, however, NCC was compelled to develop the database, “following increased consumer complaints regarding unsolicited SMS from VAS providers marketing their various services within the Nigerian telecoms space”.
In a statement, the commission said it had forwarded warning letters “to all VAS providers directing that all unsolicited messages or telemarketing activities within the networks could at best be done between the hours of 8a.m – 8p.m in line with the existing guidelines.
Source: BusinessDay
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