Prof. Umar Danbatta, the Executive Vice-Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) says majority of telecommunications companies’ customers have yet to activate the 2442 “Do Not Disturb” (DND) Code.
Danbatta said in a statement in Lagos on Saturday that in spite of complaints by consumers of receiving unsolicited Short Messaging Services (SMS) only few had activated the 2442 code.
He said the directive of NCC was an intervention to stop unwanted messages and calls from telemarketing companies riding on the crest of telecommunications infrastructure.
According to him, the directive is a regulatory response to the yearnings of the subscribers for protection against the nuisance of unsolicited messages.
Danbatta noted that there were a number of initiatives of NCC designed to address the challenges of telecommunications consumers, but regretted that subscribers were not utilising them adequately.
The NCC boss also advised consumers to use the toll-free line ‘112’ for emergencies and another toll-free number ‘622’ for complaints about telecommunications service providers.
Hr said the commission had directed the operators to dedicate a common Short Code (2442) to enable subscribers to take informed decisions.
According to him, the commission took cognizance of the broad range of services of the service providers which include Banking/Insurance/Financial Products, Real Estate, Education, Health, Consumer Goods and Automobiles in taking the decision.
Others services are Communication/Broadcasting/Entertainment/IT, Tourism and leisure, Sports, Religion (Christianity, Islam), among others.
”Hence, the commission directed the operators to give the necessary instructions and clarifications that will enable subscribers subscribe to a particular service/services or to none.
”In fact, a full DND which is to SMS ‘STOP’ to 2442, does not allow the subscriber to receive any unsolicited message from the operators at all.” (NAN)
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