A Federal High Court in Abuja has issued an order to halt the planned increase in subscription prices by Multichoice Nigeria Limited, the operator of DStv and GOtv.

The court’s decision comes in response to Multichoice’s announcement of a forthcoming price increment across its DStv and GOtv packages, set to take effect from May 1, 2024.

The company cited a rise in the cost of business operations in Nigeria due to price adjustments.

According to the notice signed by Multichoice CEO John Ugbe, subscribers received via email, the new prices for DStv packages included increases for the Premium package, now priced at N37,000 monthly, up from the current N29,500 subscription fee.

Similarly, the Compact+ bouquet increased to N25,000 from N19,800 monthly, while the Compact bouquet would cost N15,700 instead of the current N12,500.

For GOtv users, price adjustments were also announced, with increases across packages such as Supa Plus, Supa, Max, and Jolli.

However, the court’s intervention has temporarily put a stop to the planned price increases, offering relief to subscribers who expressed concerns over the successive hikes in subscription fees over the past year.

Multichoice had faced criticism for the frequency of its subscription fee increments, with this being the third increase in the past year alone.