Mr. John Ugbe,the Managing Director of MultiChoice Nigeria Limited may be sent to jail if found guilty of violating a court order on its proposed 20 percent increment on DSTV subscription fee.
According to Punch, two Lagos-based legal practitioners, Oluyinka Oyeniji and Osasuyi Adebayo, have already commenced contempt proceedings against Mr. John Ugbe for hiking subscription fees on the DSTV when a subsisting court order was against such hike.
If found guilty of the allegation , Ugbe, alongside the Public Relations Manager of the company, Caroline Oghuma, is likely to be jailed.
The lawyers had, on April 2, 2015, secured a court order of interim injunction restraining MultiChoice from giving effect to its proposed 20 per cent increment on subscription fee on the Digital Satellite Television (DStv) being operated by it.
Justice C.J. Aneke of a Federal High Court in Lagos, who made the interim order, had held that the order would subsist till the determination of a lawsuit contesting the legality of MultiChoice’s newly-introduced subscription rates on DStv.
However, at the resumed hearing on Thursday, one of the plaintiffs, Oyeniyi, informed the court that in spite of the court order, MultiChoice had not stopped its new rates, which had commenced from April 1.
Black Box Nigeria reports that the in their motion on notice, served on the defendants along with Forms 48 and 49, the lawyers attached as exhibits copies of receipts issued by MultiChoice to certain subscribers reflecting payment of the new subscription rate of N13, 980 rather than the old rate of N11, 650 in spite of the court order.
The other prayer contained in their motion on notice was for the court to order MultiChoice to make a refund of all excess charges to all customers who had subscribed to the new rate in the face of the subsisting court order.
The plaintiffs also asked for an order mandating MultiChoice to tender a full page public apology in four national newspapers including The Punch, ThisDay, The Guardian and The Sun, to all subscribers for violating the court order.
They also want the court to compel the company to tender televised apology on DStv as well as via text messages to all subscribers in the country.
According to This Day, when the matter came up yesterday, April 16, MultiChoice’s lawyer, Moyosore Onigbanjo (SAN), informed the court that different applications to discharge the order and to challenge the court’s jurisdiction to hear the matter had been filed.
Onigbanjo had further explained that the order was made a day after MultiChoice started the implementation of the new rates, and that the order was brought to the attention of his client on April 8.
The lawyer further argued that a party that had challenged the jurisdiction of the court with respect to an order was not bound to obey the court’s order.
Onigbanjo further noted that the status quo as at the time the order was made had been maintained by his client.
Responding, plaintiffs lawyer, Osasuyi Adebayo, faulted Onigbanjo’s claims on why the court’s order had not been complied with.
He said the application for injunction was filed before April 1, and that the court’s order had not foreclosed the suit.
The matter was consequently adjourned to May 5, for the hearing of all pending applications.
The plaintiffs, who are also lawyers, had dragged MultiChoice to the court to challenge the increase in the subscription rates.
In the class action suit, the plaintiffs are urging the court to order the second defendant, the National Broadcasting Commission(NBC), to also implement Pay Per View where subscribers choose the programmes they want and pay as they watch, which is being implemented in some other parts of the world.
MultiChoice, owners of DStv and GOtv, had in March, announced a 20 per cent price increase for all its satellite pay TV bouquets in Nigeria.
Many Nigerian who subscribe to DSTY services have also described the tariff hike as improper, complaining that the irregular power supply in the country deprives them of enjoying DSTV services to the full. They have also called for MultiChoice to adopt the pay per view billing method.
source: Naij
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