The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) on Friday assured Nigerians that their interest will be protected amid the controversial telecommunications tariff hike.

New Telegraph recalls the telecommunications companies had requested a 100 per cent tariff increase but the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) recently approved a 50 per cent hike.

However, the NCC said the approval, which is half of what the telcos demanded, is in recognition of the financial pressures faced by Nigerian households and businesses.

However, speaking in an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today Program, the Chief Executive Officer of the FCCPC, Tunji Bello, said the Commission is out to protect the interest of Nigerians which is why it insisted that the tariff increase does not exceed 50 per cent.

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Bello said, “Recently, you will notice that we signed an MoU with the Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC) that regulates that industry. Our own is to ensure that there are fair prices, there is efficiency and all those things.

“One of the terms of that MoU is the fact that it provides efficient services to Nigerians and our take on this is that we want to ensure that even if they increase their prices, how are consumers compensated when they are injured? How do they get the necessary efficiency in terms of receiving and dialling calls and so on?

“These are some of the things we are going to be monitoring because there is a provision under the MoU that we are going to monitor that those things are provided. Where the consumer is dissatisfied, they have the responsibility to alert us, and we will take it up on their behalf.”