Innjoo pays N4m fine to commission over sale of unapproved phones

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The Head, Enforcement Unit of NCC, Mr Salisu Abdul, disclosed this when he spoke with newsmen after an enforcement action against the company in Lagos.

Abdul said in July 2015, the outfit was sanctioned to the tune of four million Naira for non type-approving eight different models of its handset phones.

Abdul said the company had forwarded the phones for test, but six models were approved by NCC, while the remaining two were obsolete, hence, not approved.

He said that after the approval of some of the phones, Innjoo had refused to pay the sanction for the marketing of the remaining two set of models without approval.

``We decided to come today to enforce compliance with payment. We have interacted with the officials of Innjoo and they told us that they actually did not receive the notice of sanction.

``The letter of sanction was sent to a lawyer representing Innjoo Technology Ltd, but the company said it never received it.

``So, when we gave them a copy of the letter of sanction, they immediately complied,’’ he said.

He said: ``the company has paid the fine now, in the sum of N4 million, and the enforcement action has now been suspended,'' Abdul said.

He, however, said the commission would not hesitate to sanction operators and dealers that did not seek its approval before selling any device in the country’s telecommunications market.

Abdul said that type-approving a phone was necessary to ensure such device was compatible with the country's telecommunications networks.

He said it was an offence to sell or use any device that was not approved by the regulatory body.

According to him, selling of non type-approved phones is against the provision of sections 131, 132 and 133 of the Nigerian Communications Act.

``Substandard phones hinder network switchings so we have to subject phones to test to determine their qualities.

``Sometimes, using non type-approved handset causes poor quality of service, so this is one of the fundamental aspects why type-approval is necessary.

``So, we are saying that whatever equipment that is brought into the telecommunications market must be compatible with our network, otherwise, approval will not be given,'' he said.

Abdul said phone users should check the commission's website to see the list of type-approved devices, so as to be guided.