SON, CPC, Others Move to Sanitise Nigeria’s Phone Market

• NCC to shutdown substandard phones on networks

Crusoe Osagie

Worried about by high level of complaints on issues bordering on quality, warranty and product liability requirements of mobile phones, the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), Consumer Protection Council (CPC) and the Phone and Allied Products Dealers Association (PAPDA) have partnered to sanitise the phone markets in Nigeria.

The acting Director General, SON, Mr. Paul Angya, explained that the use and sale of substandard mobile phones and accessories in the country have been increasing to the extent that it has become a menace affecting the quality of service among other consequence.

Angya, during a stakeholders’ forum on phone and allied products in Lagos, maintained that the health hazards and impact of substandard phone on users, network quality and the economy are appalling hence the need for the effective monitoring of this sector but not without first educating the relevant stakeholders on the requirement of the standard, compliance and punishment for offenders which necessitated the forum.

However, the Executive Vice Chairman of NCC, Professor, Umaru Danbatta, said plans were in place later in the year to register only phones with genuine IMEI numbers on networks, advising dealers in fake and substandard phones in the country to desist from the act.

“We are working with agencies and international organisation to pick up all the genuine handsets with IMEI numbers to be registered on our database,” he said.

The SON boss said: “After June this year, all proliferators of fake and substandard mobile phones and accessories will be prosecuted. Customers must obtain receipt and a 12 month warranty on purchased phones. Any phone unregistered with the SON will be seized and the offenders prosecuted.”

He said: “Starting from June this year, we will be marking shops of products that are registered with SON. We are going to have stickers that cannot be faked. Anybody who is registered with SON will be displayed to say this is a SON registered phone dealer and once we come and we find out that you do not have this sticker, we will confiscate your products. Whether you have the best phones in the world or not as long as it is not registered, there is a presumption that you are dealing with fake and substandard products.”

Angya added that the importance of a forum such as this cannot be overemphasised, pointing out that the forum is not only critical for the survival of the nation at this time but urgent as it bothers on safety and economic growth.
He noted that over the years, owing to technological growth and the need for ease of communication as a tool for socio economic development, there is need for the expansion and development of Information Communication Technology (ICT) infrastructure in the country.

According to him, substandard phones are not durable and have a higher radiation level under extreme temperatures and during charging these phones can explode resulting in loss of lives and properties.

SON DG said since fake and substandard phones are not tested for compliance with industry safety standards and other national and international standards, they might contain dangerous levels of harmful elements such as lead.
He said the government through the SON intends to ensure the safety of users when using mobile communication accessories such as mobile phones and tablets through compliance to standards and enforcement of standards.
“In August 2013, our enforcement team visited the computer village to address PAPDA and CAPDA on the concerns that there is an increase in the influx of substandard phones which has proliferated the Computer Village (market) and the need for all dealers; importers to register their brand with SON for traceability and compliance with standards,” he said.

He informed the members that the information on their product must include the information as a minimum; the name of the manufacturer, the importing company with traceable address and identification codes which will be made available to the SON, stressing that only a few of the members have complied with this requirement.

“It is expected that at the end of this forum, manufacturers, importers, dealers and consumers will be aware of what to look out for in a quality, safe and durable mobile phone or accessories and their individual role in terms of product liability,” he said.

Danbatta said African countries, especially Nigeria, have been identified as home for imported substandard goods, saying this trend applies in almost all goods; household appliances, consumables, electronic devices, automobiles to mention a few.

He said counterfeiting is a global concern in view of its direct correlation with theft, crime, tax, evasion, poor service delivery and the likes, pointing out that according to reports, worldwide combined shipments of mobile phones for 2015 were estimated to exceed 1.9 billion units.

Danbatta noted that this number constitutes about 15 to 20 per cent of the global fake mobile phone market in terms of units sold, noting that the obvious negative economic impact of this ugly trend on genuine manufacturers, government and dealers culminate in brand devaluation, loss of revenue and tax, healthy competition, national security and loss of employment opportunities.

“This menace also poses danger to health and safety of consumers. It is our hope that this forum will come up with a resolution that will help government facilitate inter-agency collaboration in checking the menace,” he said.
The Director General, CPC, Mrs. Dupe Atoki, said the use of phones in the Nigerian market has exponentially skyrocketed in the last few years and is still increasing, pointing out that the increase has yielded the high influx of substandard phones in the country even after SON and CPC have raided the markets severally.
“We have documented Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs) between CPC and PAPDA since 2013 all in favour of purging the market of substandard phones,” she said.

The CPC boss said the establishment of service centres by all genuine phone manufacturers in Nigeria would help to boost the consumers’ confidence in the products, help to monitor and curb the influx of substandard phones and accessories and help to bring the manufacturer closer to the users of their products
Atoki commended SON for the laudable effort in establishing a platform to address the influx of substandard phones and phone accessories as well as enlightening stakeholders on warranty, liability and quality requirement of phones.
She said the forum will also promote consumer education and awareness on the crippling effect of the escalating menace of phone and allied products sub standardisation.

Atoki added that the council is always open to collaborations and cooperation with other regulators, original manufacturers, brand protectors, dealers, non-government organisations (NGOs), the media or individual with important information.