Telemarketing and Consumer protection in Nigeria: A Case for the Domestication of the U.S. Telephone Consumer Protection Act, (TCPA, 1991)

Abstract

The Resolution of telecommunications regulatory issues that affect consumer protection with a view to adopting world best practices for enhanced Consumer Protection calls for a case by case review and appraisal of such topical and vexed issues that affect consumer protection in the telecommunications subsector. Consumer Protection issues in telecommunications revolves around matters of poor services, billing cost, lack of network, drop calls, telemarketing, unsolicited adverts etc. The problems of telemarketing and unsolicited advertisements have been endemic enough to attract criticism and calls for a legal framework to regulate or check the trend. In the USA, the issue of telemarketing and unsolicited adverts has since been addressed by the enactment of the U.S Telephone Consumer Protection Act, 1991. This work seeks to address the issues of telemarketing unsolicited advertisements in the telecommunications regulatory framework with a view to improving consumer satisfaction in the sector. A case for the domestication of the U.S.A experience is been made by an analysis of the USA TCPA, 1991, showing its relevance, shortcomings and grey areas and amendments for application in Nigeria. It is opined that the U.S TCPA 1991, when domesticated in Nigeria mutatis mutandis will cure the viral virus of unsolicited adverts in the Nigerian telecommunications regulatory environment.

Keywords: consumer protection, U.S Telephone Consumer Protection Act, 1991, Telecommunications, Advertisement, Regulatory, customers, Lotteries, The Telemarketing Industry, Global Systems of Mobile Telecommunications (GSM), Value Added Services (VAS), National Coordinator of Wireless Application Service Providers of Nigeria (WASPAN), The Nigerian Communications Commission, Federal Communications Commission (FCC), Consumers Protection Council (CPC), Nigerian Communications Commissions (NCC).