MultiChoice has not demonstrated good faith to Ghanaians – CUTS Int’l
The West African Regional Director of CUTS International, Appiah Kusi Adomako, has criticised pay-TV operator MultiChoice Ghana over what he describes as unfair treatment of Ghanaian consumers.
His comments come in the wake of the escalating standoff between Communications Minister Samuel Nartey George and MultiChoice Ghana, in which the Minister has given the pay-TV operator until August 7 to reduce its DStv subscription prices or risk having its broadcasting licence suspended.
Speaking on the Channel One Newsroom on Sunday, August 3, Adomako emphasised that while the Minister’s concerns about pricing are legitimate, the broader issues of market dominance and poor consumer treatment by MultiChoice must not be overlooked.
“MultiChoice has not demonstrated good faith to Ghanaians. When you are a subscriber to the MultiChoice service and experience a network problem that cannot be resolved remotely, and you call MultiChoice, they will provide you with the number of a third-party agent to come and fix it for you. Once the person comes, you pay the person, and that is very wrong,” he said.
According to him, this practice violates the basic consumer protection principle of “benefit and burden,” which holds that a service provider who receives payment must also bear the cost of maintaining that service.
Adomako argued that the current situation is made worse by the monopoly MultiChoice holds in the pay-TV market. He called for stronger consumer protection and competition laws to curb such practices.
“In law, we have what we call the ‘benefit and burden’ principle. He who enjoys the benefit must also enjoy the burden. I pay a monthly subscription to you, so if there is a problem, you should be paying whoever comes, not me, the subscriber.
“And all of these things are happening because of the monopoly and the dominance that is in this market. In the short to medium terms, we should get our consumer protection laws and competition laws in place so that some of these things can be curtailed,” he stated.
While he cautioned against the August 7 ultimatum on grounds that it could discourage foreign investment, Adomako stressed the importance of building a more competitive and accountable pay-TV market that puts the interests of Ghanaian consumers first.
