Satellite television service in Sub-Saharan Africa, Multichoice, has refuted reports circulating the internet that it has reduced the subscription prices for GOtv and DStv.
A spokesperson at the company said the only reduction was the price of the decoder.
“We only reduced our decoder prices and not subscription prices. The DStv Zapper was slashed from N65,000 to N22,900 while the Zapper and the dishkit were slashed from N100,000 to N57,900. For GOtv, the Pizza Box was slashed from N56,000 to N19,900 and all of these took effect from the 1st of June 2024”, the spokesperson said.
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Multichoice has been involved in a legal battle with the Competition and Consumer Protection Tribunal (CCPT) over price increases in its subscription packages.
Recall that in April 2024, Multichoice announced a fresh increase in prices of DStv and GOtv packages. In a statement titled ‘Price Adjustment on DStv and GOtv Packages’, signed by its Chief Executive Officer, John Ugbe, sent to its customers.
The company disclosed that the increase was necessitated by the rise in the cost of business operations. According to the statement, the increment would take effect on May 1, 2024.
This prompted a lawsuit from the Tribunal urging Multichoice to regain from increasing its subscription package. However, on the 1st of May, the company proceeded with the subscription increase for DStv and GOtv subscribers by 25% despite the court ruling.
For DStv Premium subscribers, the price moved from N29,500 to N37,000. Also, the price for Compact Plus soared from 19,800 to 25,000. The Compact bouquet rate moved from N12,500 to 15,700 while Confam and Yanga subscribers were mandated to pay N9,300 and N5,100 respectively from their previous rates of N7,400 and N4,200.
Following these increases, the Competition and Consumer Protection Tribunal ordered the Pay-TV operator, to pay its subscribers the sum of N150 million as a fine for not complying with court orders.
A three-man panel led by Thomas Okusu also ordered the company to provide Nigerians with a one-month free subscription to its DStv and GOtv Packages, accusing the company of unjustly increasing subscription fees without one month’s notice to customers and leveraging on it to seek interim orders.
In a recent development, Multichoice has taken its battle to the appeal court, contesting the recent ruling by the Competition and Consumer Protection Tribunal which had imposed a N150 million fine.
MultiChoice has in recent times faced challenges after it reported total annual losses of R4 billion ($217 million) on revenues of R56 billion, driven by macroeconomic challenges.
In markets like Nigeria and Ghana, devaluation and inflation have reduced consumer spending power, resulting in a decline in active subscribers. In Nigeria, the number of active subscribers dropped to 8.1 million, a decline of 1.2 million, decreasing the country’s revenue contribution to the Rest of Africa segment from 44% to 35%.