Court sets September judgment for MultiChoice price hike
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A competition and consumer protection tribunal sitting in Abuja has set September 6 for judgment in an action brought against MultiChoice, the operator of Gotv and DStv, over the recent price hike of their products and subscription prices.
The court, led by Mr. Thomas Okosun, set the date on Monday after the parties' lawyers presented their arguments for and against the case.
The court had, on June 20, granted reparations to Festus Onifade in a motion seeking leave to amend his earlier subpoena and treat it as duly filed.
The lawyer, in the latest subpoena, is suing the firm, operators of DStv and Gotv, for damages of N10 million.
Onifade, in the Amended Initial Subpoena dated June 17 but filed June 20, also sought the court order directing and directing MultiChoice to immediately adopt a pay-per-view billing model for all of its products and services. .
Applicants; Onifade, a lawyer, and the Coalition of Nigeria Consumers, on his own and on behalf of others, had sued the company and the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission as 1st and 2nd defendants, shortly long after the company, on March 22, announced its plan to increase the price of its products from April 1.
They had asked the court for an order restraining the company from increasing its services and other products on April 1, pending the hearing and decision of the motion on notice dated and filed March 30, and the court granted the ex- motion parte, ordering the parties to maintain the status quo ante bellum.
But despite the court order, the company reportedly continued to raise prices for DStv and Gotv subscriptions.
On April 11, the court again ordered MultiChoice to return to the old prices maintaining the status quo of its March 30 order, pending hearing and decision on the merits.
But MultiChoice attorney Jamiu Agoro, in a motion served on Thursday, challenged the court's jurisdiction to hear the case.
The motions, according to counsel, include "an order suspending enforcement of the Honorable Tribunal's order of March 30, pending determination of the present application; an order rescinding and granting the PTAC order issued on March 30 in this case.
"An order of the Honorable Court striking out the action in limine for lack of jurisdiction of the court, and for any other order or other orders that this Honorable Court may see fit to make in the circumstances."
In his six enumerated grounds, Agoro argued that the court lacked jurisdiction to hear the action because the plaintiffs lacked jurisdiction to bring the action.
The court then adjourned the case until Monday to consider the action on the merits and the defendants' responses.
Please share this story:
A competition and consumer protection tribunal sitting in Abuja has set September 6 for judgment in an action brought against MultiChoice, the operator of Gotv and DStv, over the recent price hike of their products and subscription prices.
The court, led by Mr. Thomas Okosun, set the date on Monday after the parties' lawyers presented their arguments for and against the case.
The court had, on June 20, granted reparations to Festus Onifade in a motion seeking leave to amend his earlier subpoena and treat it as duly filed.
The lawyer, in the latest subpoena, is suing the firm, operators of DStv and Gotv, for damages of N10 million.
Onifade, in the Amended Initial Subpoena dated June 17 but filed June 20, also sought the court order directing and directing MultiChoice to immediately adopt a pay-per-view billing model for all of its products and services. .
Applicants; Onifade, a lawyer, and the Coalition of Nigeria Consumers, on his own and on behalf of others, had sued the company and the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission as 1st and 2nd defendants, shortly long after the company, on March 22, announced its plan to increase the price of its products from April 1.
They had asked the court for an order restraining the company from increasing its services and other products on April 1, pending the hearing and decision of the motion on notice dated and filed March 30, and the court granted the ex- motion parte, ordering the parties to maintain the status quo ante bellum.
But despite the court order, the company reportedly continued to raise prices for DStv and Gotv subscriptions.
On April 11, the court again ordered MultiChoice to return to the old prices maintaining the status quo of its March 30 order, pending hearing and decision on the merits.
But MultiChoice attorney Jamiu Agoro, in a motion served on Thursday, challenged the court's jurisdiction to hear the case.
The motions, according to counsel, include "an order suspending enforcement of the Honorable Tribunal's order of March 30, pending determination of the present application; an order rescinding and granting the PTAC order issued on March 30 in this case.
"An order of the Honorable Court striking out the action in limine for lack of jurisdiction of the court, and for any other order or other orders that this Honorable Court may see fit to make in the circumstances."
In his six enumerated grounds, Agoro argued that the court lacked jurisdiction to hear the action because the plaintiffs lacked jurisdiction to bring the action.
The court then adjourned the case until Monday to consider the action on the merits and the defendants' responses.
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