Isa Pantami, the minister of
communications and digital economy, has directed the Nigerian Communications
Commission (NCC) to ensure that telecommunications companies deactivate
automatic voicemail subscriptions on phone lines.
In a statement released on
Tuesday by Uwa Suleiman, spokesperson to the minister, Pantami said voicemail
service should be accessed at the discretion of the subscriber and not by
default.
“The attention of the honourable
minister of communications and digital economy has been drawn to the latest
trend of financial exploitation by mobile network operators (MNOs) in the
country through the automatic activation of the voicemail service on their
platforms,” the statement read.
“Based on recent reports reaching
the office. the practice has gained momentum in recent times.
“The voicemail service should be
accessed at the discretion of the subscriber and not by default. The honourable
minister finds it worrisome and totally unacceptable, that telecoms subscribers
incur financial charges, for a service they are compelled to use by default.”
Explaining the rationale behind
the directive, Pantami said voicemail is not a popular service among Nigerians
and rural dwellers mostly understand the language used by networks on the service.
“It is apparent, that the recent
clampdown on the exploitative activities of some mobile network operators
(MNOs) in the country has beamed the searchlight on the sector properly and
some unpatriotic elements in the system are devising subtle, ingenious methods
of defrauding Nigerians.
“In the light of this. Dr Pantami
has issued a broad policy directive to the sector regulator Nigerian
Communications Commission (NCC), to immediately ensure that issues regarding
automatic voicemails are addressed on all existing phone lines and the
subscribers, given the option of accessing the service via an activation code.”
In a recent directive, Pantami
suspended cash payments in all Nigeria Postal Services (NIPOST) offices saying
some staff have been taking “undue advantage of the cash payment system to
engage in corrupt practices”.
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