{"id":172450,"date":"2015-12-07T11:16:59","date_gmt":"2015-12-07T11:16:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/4cd.e16.myftpupload.com\/?p=172450"},"modified":"2015-12-07T11:16:59","modified_gmt":"2015-12-07T11:16:59","slug":"nigerian-regulator-backtracks-on-mtn-fine-reduction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2015\/12\/nigerian-regulator-backtracks-on-mtn-fine-reduction\/","title":{"rendered":"Nigerian regulator \u2018backtracks\u2019 on MTN fine reduction"},"content":{"rendered":"
Mobile network MTN\u00a0said regulators in Nigeria have adjusted the company\u2019s multi-billion dollar fine upwards again from $3.4bn (R48.9bn) to $3.9bn (R56bn).<\/p>\n
[contextly_sidebar id=”jfT5hMx9IPGHFHJ3a4VbwJnSYmlKz8Vn”]On October 26, MTN announced that it had been fined $5.6bn in Nigeria for failing to disconnect up to five million unregistered SIM cards in a timely manner.<\/p>\n
Then on Thursday, the mobile network – which is Nigeria\u2019s biggest with over 60 million subscribers – said that the Nigerian Communications Commission had cut the fine to $3.4bn.<\/p>\n
But in a twist, MTN on Friday morning told shareholders in a statement that its fine had actually not been reduced by 35% – as indicated from a first letter from the NCC on December 2 – but actually by 25%.<\/p>\n
\u201cLate on 3 December 2015, the day after receipt of the first letter, the company received a further letter from the NCC dated 3 December 2015 (the second letter).<\/p>\n
\u201cThe second letter, which was stated to supersede the first letter, informed the company that the fine had actually been reduced by 25% to 780 billion naira ($3.9bn) and not by 35% to 674 billion naira ($3.4bn), as was stated in the first letter. The payment date remained 31 December 2015.<\/p>\n
\u201cNeither the first letter nor the second letter sets out any details on how the reduction was determined,\u201d said MTN.<\/p>\n
The company further said that executive chairman Phuthuma Nhleko plans to \u201cimmediately and urgently re-engage with the Nigerian Authorities\u201d regarding the change in the fine.<\/p>\n
MTN\u2019s mega fine in Nigeria has become a headache for the company which has since seen its previous group CEO Sifiso Dabengwa quit and its share price decimated by up to a fifth on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE).<\/p>\n
On Thursday, the company also announced that its Nigeria CEO Michael Ikpoki and its head of regulatory and corporate affairs in that country, Akinwale Goodluck, had resigned.<\/p>\n
–<\/p>\n
Credit:\u00a0 Fin24<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Mobile network MTN\u00a0said regulators in Nigeria have adjusted the company\u2019s multi-billion dollar fine upwards again from $3.4bn (R48.9bn) to $3.9bn (R56bn). [contextly_sidebar id=”jfT5hMx9IPGHFHJ3a4VbwJnSYmlKz8Vn”]On October 26, MTN announced that it had been fined $5.6bn in Nigeria for failing to disconnect up to five million unregistered SIM cards in a timely manner. Then on Thursday, the mobile […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":163243,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[],"tags":[20,4],"yoast_head":"\n