FRAUDULENT DEDUCTION: Etisalat Responds, Offers Redress To Subscribers

Following a petition sponsored by a non-government organization, Coalition Against Corruption in the Public Sector, which was addressed to the Executive Vice Chairman, Nigeria Communication Commission, NCC, and copied to the four GSM operators namely, Airtel, Etisalat, MTN and Globacom over the fraudulent deductions from subscribers account through caller-tunes, and sponsored SMS among others, Etisalat Nigeria Limited has responded to the petition.

In a mail to the President of the organization, Carl Umegboro, the company regretted the development and in addition, requested anyone who has experienced such inadequacies from its network to come forward with the exact telephone number assuring that once such claim is verified, redress is inevitable.

“We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience that you may be experiencing. Kindly help us to confirm if you have a specific compliant on your Etisalat mobile numbers, to enable us assist you adequately. If you noticed any deductions, please provide us with the affected mobile number, the date and time these deductions occurred; to enable us resolve your complaint. Thank you for choosing Etisalat,” the company said.

In view of this development, Umegboro said that the organization has signed a memorandum of understanding, MoU, with Pinnacle InfoGallery Blog to use its platform for the public collection of numbers, and consequently, that a ‘Public Complaints Box’ has been created on the website/blog. He therefore enjoined all Etisalat subscribers who have experienced such unjustifiable deductions to locate the Public Complaints Box on: www.pinnacleinfogalleryblog.com to put down the particular numbers as requested by the company or report to the offices close to them.

However, Mtn Nigeria and Airtel Nigeria in its respective acknowledgement stated that the company was investigating the matter adding that it would give a remark at the end of its investigation.  As at the time of filing the report, Globacom is yet to acknowledge the receipt of the petition.