MTN fined N15m for sending unsolicited messages to customer

The Court of Appeal has awarded the sum of N15m as general damages against MTN Nigeria Communications Limited for bombarding a customer’s phone number with unsolicited messages and caller tunes when the customer didn’t subscribe to the services.

Justice Okon Abang of the Abuja division of the appellate court made the pronouncement while delivering judgment in an appeal brought before him by a public interest lawyer, Ezugwu Anene, on Friday.

In his appeal, the appellant claimed that some 88 unsolicited calls made by MTN to him at odd hours had caused him embarrassment, inconvenience, distraction, and anxiety, thereby breaching his right to privacy.

He asked the court to award N200m against MTN in general damages for the imposition of caller tunes and disturbing unsolicited messages sent to on his mobile number weekly.

The official stated that MTN did not breach the claimant’s right to privacy or the quiet enjoyment of his airtime and did not make any fraudulent or illegal deductions from his airtime.

“All services complained about by the claimant were subscribed to by him, and the defendant merely debited him for the services,” the respondent said.

The lower court, in its judgement, held that Section 37 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, guaranteed and protected citizens’ privacy, including their homes, correspondence, telephone conversations, and telegraphic communications.

The appellate Court agreed that the unsolicited text messages caused the appellant anxiety, adding that MTN was likely profiting substantially from this practice, and Nigerians may not know this.

Justice Abang said the trial court should have awarded exemplary damages against MTN, a foreign company, as a deterrent.

He said, “If MTN had sent unsolicited messages to 10 million phones at the time, owned by innocent Nigerians, it would have unlawfully enriched itself” to over a trillion naira.

Globalpose.