PAY television service provider Multichoice Nigeria has announced an increase in subscription rates for its DStv and GOtv packages for the second time in five months.
The new tariff hike was announced on Wednesday, April 24, via emails to customers and will take effect from Wednesday, May 1, 2024, a week after the announcement.
The organisation cited a “rise in cost of business operations” as the reason for the hike.
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“We understand the impact this change may have on you, our valued customer, but the rise in the cost of business operations has led us to make this difficult decision. It remains our mission to provide the best entertainment and viewing experience to you, and (we) are committed to continue to deliver high-quality content and unparalleled service,” the statement read.
For DStv, the Premium package now costs N37,000, an increase of N7,500 from N29,500, which was the price before the increase.
The Compact Plus package now costs N25,000, up from N19,800, while the Compact is N15,700, an increase of N3,200 from the previous price of N12,500.
Lower packages like Confam now go for N9,300 from N7,400, Yanga for N5,100 from N4,200 and Padi, N3,600, increased from N2950.
HDPVR Access subscribers will now pay N5,000 as against the N4,000 that was previously paid.
The Supa Plus package on GOtv will now cost N15,700 from N12,500, the Supa bouquet will cost N9,600 against N7,600 currently being paid, while GOtv Max is now N7,200 from N5,700.
The Jolli package will cost N4,850 from N3,950, Jinja will now go for N3,300 monthly, from N2,700, while subscribers of the Smallie package will now pay N1,575 from N1,300.
In December 2023, barely five months ago, Multichoice effected a tariff increase on its packages by about 20 per cent.
This is also the organisation’s third tariff hike in less than a year, as prices were also increased in May 2023.
In 2022, Multichoice Nigeria’s constant increase in subscription rates prompted Nigerians to alert the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC), whose officials launched investigations into the organisation’s activities.
After investigations, the FCCPC ordered that in the event of a hike in subscription rates without additional value, certain features should be made available to consumers to prevent exploitation.
However, the email sent to customers on Wednesday did not mention any extra value being added due to the hike.
Ijeoma Opara is a journalist with The ICIR. Reach her via vopara@icirnigeria.org or @ije_le on Twitter.