Multichoice subscribers have renewed their demand on owners, Multichoice and other service providers to introduce the ‘Pay as You Go’ tariff (PAYG) in Nigeria.

Subscribers who spoke with the NAN on Sunday in Abuja said it was time the providers introduce PAYG in the country.

Jumai Aliyu, a subscriber in Maitama, said it was wrong for the service providers to stick to the fixed monthly tariff, unlike in other countries.

“Nigeria constitutes about 40 percent of DSTV’s global market share, yet the company refused to adopt the pay as you go tariff by sticking to the fixed monthly tariff which is exploitative.

“The DSTV operates pay as you go tariff in other countries but chose to exploit Nigerians through a fixed monthly tariff,” Mr. Aliyu said.

Kenny Ayodeji, a subscriber in Nyanya, corroborated Mr. Aliyu’s claim, calling on the federal government to intervene in the matter.

“I think the government has a duty in ensuring that Nigerians are protected against unnecessary exploitation by foreign companies like DSTV.

“I remember that the National Assembly promised to ensure that the DSTV and other service providers adopt the pay as you go tariff and reduce their subscription fees, but I don’t know what happened eventually,” Mr. Ayodeji said.

Uche Chukwuma, a subscriber in Wuse, said that the service providers had never compensated subscribers for poor services especially during the rainy season when the services were always poor.

“They effected a tariff hike in June and just three months after, another one,” he said, noting that the latest increase was coming too soon.

Multichoice recently changed prices on its bouquets, with some subscribers seeing as much N500 in monthly fee hikes.

The company has always cited multiple factors as responsible for its adoption of fixed monthly tariff in Nigeria.

It suggested that the operating environment in Nigeria is much different from what is obtainable in other countries.

Nigeria’s perennial failure to address electricity generation and distribution, amongst other infrastructure needs, has also been linked to rising costs of services in the country.

Federal authorities lack the powers to dictate to a private enterprise what to charge for its services, but they have nonetheless continued to appeal to Multichoice to consider Nigeria’s status as the country with the poorest number of people and be kind in its imposition of tariffs across its network.