Rwanda bans usage of Galaxy note 7 to protect consumers
Kampala.
The Rwanda Utilities Regulatory Authority (RURA) has banned the importation and usage of Samsung note 7 citing safety reasons.
Samsung has suffered one of its biggest setbacks in business after the South Korean electronics giant killed off its flagship Galaxy Note 7 smartphone due to a crisis with exploding batteries.
In a statement dated October 12, the RURA acting director general, Mr Patrick Nyirishema noted that, “The Rwanda Utilities Regulatory Authority informs the general public that importation and distribution of smartphone Samsung Galaxy Note 7 in Rwanda is banned."
The statement further states that, "consumers who may have individually bought them abroad are required to power them down and return them to where they were purchased."
About RURA
RURA is a national agency that promotes and protects consumers interests and rights regarding public utilities, including telecommunications network and/or Telecommunications services, electricity, water, removal of waste products from residential or business premises, extraction and distribution of gas and transport of goods and persons.
The background
Samsung Electronics on Monday suspended production of its Galaxy Note 7 smartphone, a month after a recall prompted by battery explosions and a day after two major overseas distributors halted replacements.
Samsung, the world's largest smartphone maker, declined to comment on the report by South Korea's Yonhap news agency, which was sourced to an unidentified official with an unnamed Samsung supplier.
The official told Yonhap the decision to temporarily halt production was taken in cooperation with consumer safety regulators from South Korea, the United States and China.
Samsung decided on September 2 to halt the sale of the Galaxy Note 7 and recall those sold after complaints that its lithium-ion battery exploded while charging.
With images of charred phones flooding social media, the unprecedented recall was a humiliation for a firm that prides itself as an icon of innovation and quality.
