The Court of Appeal in Abuja has directed MTN Nigeria Communications Limited to pay N15 million in damages for unlawfully deducting airtime from a subscriber through unsolicited services.
In a unanimous decision by a three-member panel of Justices, the court ruled that the deductions, made through automatic renewal of services the customer did not subscribe to, were fraudulent.
The court further declared that sending unwarranted text messages to subscribers violated their right to privacy as protected under Section 37 of the 1999 Constitution. It also found MTN guilty of breaching Regulation 28 of the Consumer Code of Practice Regulations.
The judgment came after an appeal filed by an aggrieved customer, Mr. Ezugwu Anene, marked CA/ABJ/CV/137/2022.
Mr. Anene told the court that between 2016 and 2018, MTN deducted N20 from his airtime balance for each of the 244 unsolicited text messages he received for a service called “Weekly Guidance and Counseling.”
He said, “I never subscribed to this service, but MTN continued deducting airtime from my balance.”
Anene further complained that MTN imposed Caller Tune services on his line without his consent, leading to more deductions. He explained that despite reporting the issue to MTN’s Abuja office and using the “Do Not Disturb” code, 2442, as instructed, the deductions persisted.
The Appeal Court agreed with Anene’s claims, stating that MTN’s actions were both fraudulent and unlawful. The panel noted that the company showed disregard for the rights of its customers.
Justice Mohammed Mustapha, who delivered the lead judgment, said, “The repeated deductions and unsolicited messages breached the subscriber’s right to privacy and violated consumer protection laws.”
The court awarded N15 million in damages to Anene as compensation for the distress caused by MTN’s actions.
