Officials of the Consumer Protection Council (CPC) yesterday stormed the office of Digital Satellite Television (DStv), as part of their investigation into complaints by subscribers.
Led by the Director of Legal Services, Mr. Emmanuel Ataguba, the CPC stated that its action was “in line with one of its mandates to provide redress for consumer abuse, commenced investigations into the operations of DStv based on a barrage of complaints of alleged consumer rights violations.”
The Council, he said, took the step in accordance with Section 15 of its enabling law, which empowers it to “open and examine while on the premises, any container or package, which could help the course of its investigation as well as examine any book, document or other records found on the premises that may contain any information relevant to the enforcement of its Act.”
A statement by the CPC said yesterday’s action followed a barrage of consumer complaints alleging wide-range abuse of their rights. “These include poor quality of service, such as incessant disruption of service without compensation, wrongful disconnection of service during subsisting subscriptions, decoder swap irregularities and poor redress mechanism and customer service,” it stated.
During the visit to DStv, the CPC officials came with a warrant, accompanied by policemen and journalists.
Sources revealed that the CPC officials left with laptop computers and important documents about DStv operations.
You may recall that a hitch had developed in the CPC’s ongoing investigation into MultiChoice’s consumer satisfaction initiatives.
