1. GENERAL COMPLIANCE
Ratel Plus Nigeria Limited abides to comply with the Consumer Code of Practice Regulations 2018, the Nigerian Communications Act, 2003 and the Nigerian Communications (Enforcement Processes; etc) Regulations 2005 as may be amended from time to time. 2. OBLIGATION TO PROVIDE OF INFORMATION TO CONSUMERS (i) Ratel Plus Nigeria Limited shall provide consumers with complete, accurate, up-to-date information about its services in simple, clear language. (ii) Ratel Plus Nigeria Limited shall endeavour to respond in a timely manner to consumer requests for information on their services and such information shall be provided free of charge and shall include at least the following: (a) current service arrangements, including rates, terms and conditions for all services offered to the public, at all our retail offices and website. (b) services that are subject to price or tariff regulation by the Commission shall be described in service tariff pages published in an accessible form, including being made available at designated company offices and on our web site; (c) whenever we publish consumer directories, the terms of service shall be printed in the first section of such directories; and (d) where Ratel Plus Nigeria Limited seeks any change in the tariff rates for services, affected consumers shall be notified by us of the proposed price change in a manner that, in particular, avails them an opportunity to submit comments to the Commission on the proposed changes. After approval by the Commission, consumers shall also be notified by us of the approved tariff changes. 3. SERVICE CONTRACTS Ratel Plus Nigeria Limited shall supply or make available on request, a copy of the contract or agreement for the provision of its services, and such contracts shall be written in plain and clear language. 4. DESCRIPTION OF SERVICE (i) Before entering into a contract for any service, consumers shall be provided by Ratel Plus Nigeria Limited a complete description of the service in clear and plain language, avoiding unnecessary technical terms. Where other services are required in order to effectively utilize the service, the consumer shall be sufficiently informed of such requirements or service dependencies. (ii) Ratel Plus Nigeria Limited shall also provide information on the service quality levels offered, the waiting time for initial connection and any service areas and coverage maps if applicable. (iii) Ratel Plus Nigeria Limited shall provide specific information regarding compensation, refund or other arrangements if contracted quality service levels are not met, along with the procedures and methods for resolving disputes in respect of the service contract. (iv) Where services are bundled with one or more other services or products, Ratel Plus Nigeria Limited shall provide the consumer with the following information in relation to each service or product: (a) description of each component service or product, and where Ratel Plus Nigeria Limited sells the service or product component separately, the price that we would charge for the component on a stand-alone basis; and (b) for services that are bundled with services from third parties, Ratel Plus Nigeria Limited shall be fully responsible for the effective performance of the entire package including service support, maintenance, complaints handling, dispute resolution and other administrative requirements. (v) Where services are subject to upgrade or migration options, consumers shall be provided with clear and complete information regarding the upgrade or migration terms, including any changes in service performance and any duly approved fees or charges resulting from the upgrade or migration. 5. SERVICE SUBSCRIPTION Ratel Plus Nigeria Limited shall provide the consumer with clear instructions on the medium and procedure for subscribing to a service. 6. PRICING INFORMATION Before a contract for service is entered into, Ratel Plus Nigeria Limited shall inform the consumer of: (a) the applicable rates or charges; (b) what the charges include; (c) each part or element of an applicable charge, and the method of its calculation; (d) the frequency of the charge or other circumstances that give rise to the charge; (e) whether the charges or elements thereof are subject to change from time to time, the circumstances of such changes and how the consumer will be informed of such changes. 7. CONTRACT TERMS AND CONDITION The contract document shall contain information regarding the terms and conditions which include the following: (a) the commencement date of the contract; (b) where applicable, the minimum contract period and the manner and consequences of termination; (c) the procedure for early termination; (d) the amount or method of calculating any charges payable upon early termination; (e) renewal of the contract, if applicable; (f) disconnection and reconnection of services and any applicable fees; (g) procedure for the refund of any deposit including timing and any deductions or charges applicable; (h) the interruption, withdrawal or discontinuation of the service; and (i) delivery, installation or activation of the service. 8. PRODUCT WARRANTIES AND MAITENANCE (1) Before entering into a contract to provide services, Ratel Plus Nigeria Limited shall inform the consumer whether there is any contractual warranty relating to products supplied for use in connection with the service, including how to obtain warranty service if needed. (2) Where a warranty exists but is not provided with the products, Ratel Plus Nigeria Limited shall inform the consumer how and where to obtain it. (3) Ratel Plus Nigeria Limited will provide specific information regarding any maintenance services offered. 9. PROVISION OF SERVICE Ratel Plus Nigeria Limited shall provide services within any service supply time targets set out in the Commission’s Quality of Service Regulations, subject to the following: (a) in the event Ratel Plus Nigeria Limited encounters technical problems that interfere with provisioning of the service(s), the time for provisioning will be subject to any time or process of rectification permitted by the Commission; (b) Ratel Plus Nigeria Limited will not be responsible for any readiness of premises or availability of infrastructure or equipment that is beyond the reasonable control of Ratel Plus Nigeria Limited; and (c) Ratel Plus Nigeria Limited will not be responsible for delays or refusals of service requests caused by the consumer being identified as not credit-worthy. 10. FAULT REPAIR AND SERVICE INTERRUPTION (1) Ratel Plus Nigeria Limited shall provide facilities and processes necessary to enable Consumers report faults at any time of the day. (2) Ratel Plus Nigeria Limited shall comply and cause its agents to comply with the relevant fault repair standards set out in the Quality of Service Regulations issued by the Commission. (3) Ratel Plus Nigeria Limited shall endeavour to give advance warning of anticipated service disruptions or planned outages, including details of the disruption or outage, the services and service areas affected and any applicable compensation or other remedies. (4) In the event that a disruption of service is caused by the occurrence of a force majeure event, we shall notify our Consumers where possible and shall endeavour to rectify the fault within such period of time as may be reasonable in the circumstances. 11. OPERATOR ASSISTANCE, DIRECTORIES AND DIRECTORY ASSISTANCE (1) Ratel Plus Nigeria Limited shall ensure that our consumers can access: (a) operator assistance services; and (b) a directory enquiry facility containing directory information on all consumers in Nigeria, subject to sub-section (3). (2) Where Ratel Plus Nigeria Limited assigns telephone numbers to consumers, it shall ensure that each of those consumers is, on request, supplied free of charge, with a directory containing directory information on all consumers who have been assigned telephone numbers in the consumer’s local area. Provided that every consumer shall have the right to opt-out from having its information in the directory. (3) Any directories supplied shall not contain directory information for those consumers who have exercised their right to have their directory information suppressed or removed. (4) A directory may be produced by or for us, or by another person not acting on our behalf. Where a directory is produced by or for us, we shall ensure that it is updated at least once a year. (5) We may charge consumers a reasonable fee for providing directory enquiry services, subject to the approval of the Commission, and may charge a reasonable fee for any additional directories requested by consumers. 12. SERVICES FOR CONSUMERS WITH DISABILITIES AND SPECIAL NEEDS (1) Ratel Plus Nigeria Limited shall from time to time consult the Industry Consumer Advisory Forum to ensure that the requirements and interests of consumers with disabilities and special needs are fully taken into account in the development and provision of our services. (2) Ratel Plus Nigeria Limited shall comply with any specific obligations that the Commission may impose on operators in respect of special services or service arrangements for consumers with disabilities and special needs. (3) Ratel Plus Nigeria Limited shall offer additional services on request to consumers who are older or may have a disability, including: (a) Large Button Telephones; (4) Ratel Plus Nigeria Limited shall on request make available to consumers with special needs copies of our code of practice in larger prints and other reasonable formats as may be required. 13. ACCESS TO EMERGENECY SERVICES (i) Ratel Plus Nigeria Limited shall comply with any network or other requirements that may be approved by the Commission in respect of the provision of emergency services, including such measures as location identification information, special numbers and routing to emergency services locations. (ii) Calls to emergency services shall be free of charge. 14. COMPLIANCE WITH THE ADVERTISING PRACTITIONERS COUNCIL OF NIGERIA (APCON) CODE OF ADVERTISING PRACTICE Ratel Plus Nigeria Limited shall comply with the advertising standards established by APCON, and any other applicable laws or standards, in addition to the rules regarding the advertising or other promotion of telecommunications services set out in the General Code. The Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON) regulates advertising practices in Nigeria, and has established the Nigerian Code of Advertising Practice. 15. AVAILABILITY OF SERVICES (i) Ratel Plus Nigeria Limited shall make clear in advertising materials which promote the availability of a service, any geographical or technical limitations on the availability of the service to consumers which: 1. substantially affect the performance of the service; and 2. are known to the Ratel Plus Nigeria Limited. (ii) Ratel Plus Nigeria Limited shall make clear, in any advertising materials which promote a service offer, any limitations in the offer which restrict it— 1. to a particular group of people; 2. to a particular zone, region or other geographical area within the country; 3. to a particular period of time; or 4. through the limited availability of equipment, facilities or other materials. 16. ADVERTISING OF PACKAGED SERVICES (i) Where Ratel Plus Nigeria Limited represents in advertising materials that a service is provided as part of a package, we shall ensure it is able to supply all components of the service package. In the event we are or may be unable to supply any component of the package, appropriate information about this limitation shall be included in the advertising materials. (ii) Where advertising materials indicate the price of a component of a service package, Ratel Plus Nigeria Limited shall include in the advertising materials a statement of the minimum total charge for the package, and indicate any conditions that may apply to obtain the component at the stated price. (iii) (a) Ratel Plus Nigeria Limited shall clearly communicate any condition, limitation, qualification or restriction on an offer in a manner that is reasonable, having regard to the medium used and the intended audiences; (b) Ratel Plus Nigeria Limited shall clearly communicate any call connection fee not included in any stated call rate, in a manner that is reasonable having regard to the medium used and the intended audience; (c) If a telecommunications product is offered for a limited period or in a limited quantity, Ratel Plus Nigeria Limited shall communicate such limitation; (d) If a telecommunications product is available only to a limited class of consumers, Ratel Plus Nigeria Limited shall clearly communicate the eligibility requirements; (e) Advertising material shall contain sufficient details of any Special Offer, including 1 its principal elements ( f ) All prints for advertising material should be clear, legible and bold. 17. MINIMUM STANDARDS AND REQUIREMENTS FOR ADVERTISEMENTS Ratel Plus Nigeria Limited shall give written notification to the Commission of all advertisements for goods and services within a minimum of fourteen (14) days of the proposed or planned publication of an advertisement, in order to ensure that such advertisements meet the minimum standards and requirements that may from time to time be set out by the Commission, including those published in the Guidelines on Advertisements and Promotions. |