NCA fines MTN over network challenges

The National Communications Authority (NCA) has sanctioned Telecom Giant, MTN Ghana, for “failing to comply with directives which were issued to them following some challenges with their network recently”.

The Authority had directed MTN to refund losses to customers and compensate them accordingly.  MTN was also directed to submit a report on the challenges faced by customers within 24 hours of receipt of the directive.

Barely 24hrs after this directive, NCA has issued a statement saying:“Monitoring by the NCA revealed that MTN has begun rolling out compensation and refunds to affected subscribers accordingly. However, MTN failed to submit the report by the deadline indicated.

The Authority, in line with the Schedule of Penalties gazetted in May 2015, has imposed the following sanctions on MTN for the two instances of failure to communicate challenges on their network and the failure to submit a report within the stipulated time as directed:

Below are details of the sanctions

1. A fine of GHS50,000.00 in accordance with Section N (23) of the Authority’s Schedule of Penalties for failure to give notice as soon as possible to the Authority and all affected persons including subscribers for challenges with billing inaccuracies regarding the purchase of their telecommunications service bundles.

1. A fine of GHS50,000.00 in accordance with Section N (23) of the Authority’s Schedule of Penalties for failure to give notice as soon as possible to the Authority and all affected persons including subscribers for inaccessibility of MTN’s Customer Care lines.

1. A fine of GHS10,000.00 daily in accordance with Section N (7) of the Authority’s Schedule of Penalties for failure to submit the report within 24 hours. It should be noted that this Pecuniary Penalty is a fine of GHS10,000.00 for each day the infraction persists.

MTN has also been instructed to ensure that the fines in (1) and (2) above are paid by close of business on Monday, 11th December, 2019.