NCC, Telecom Service Providers agreed to resolve consumers’ complaints
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and the telecom service providers have agreed to resolve unsatisfactory consumers’ complaints by bringing in senior-level customer relations officers to support their complaints management teams. The service providers, however, promised to ensure that complaints would be resolved in both the “letter and spirit of the recently-reviewed Service Level Agreement (SLA)”.
At the regular bi-annual meeting of the NCC and senior executives of telecom companies on complaints management held recently virtually in compliance with COVID-19 management protocols, the parties settled on other issues. The parties agreed that the compensation policy should be revisited and complied with at all times. “This is to ensure full compliance with the new Complaint Categories and Service Level Agreement (CC/SLA) consented to by the NCC and the service providers in the telecommunication ecosystem”.
It was decided that the Commission and telecom service providers will hold follow-up discussions on “Fair Usage Policy” on unlimited data bundles/data rollover, in order to provide a clearer explanation and better understanding of the processes and procedures of the policy for the benefit of the consumers. The Commission restated its direction of June 2018 to service providers to commence the implementation of data rollover from June 26, 2018. It said this “remains in force”.
“A subscriber’s unused data must be rolled over to his/her subsequent data subscription. Therefore, the Commission urged service providers to continue to inform and educate subscribers on the procedures and processes for data rollover. “With respect to services subscribed to through third parties (such as banks), which are not rendered, the meeting resolved that telecom service providers should explore initiating service level agreement with banks to ensure uniformity and speed in the resolution of complaints relating to billing”.
All parties to the meeting agreed that telecom service providers should carry out pervasive consumer education and enlightenment campaigns about their products and services to ensure their subscribers have the information they require to make informed decisions and get value for money spent. The commission stated that it was very pleased with the impressive attendance, participation, and the quality of decisions taken at the bi-annual meeting.
The NCC is, therefore, determined to continue to work closely with the service providers and other stakeholders in the Nigerian telecom sector in order to improve on the quality of service, and by implication, the quality of consumer experience. The bi-annual meeting has held regularly since 2018 and it focuses on ensuring improvement in Quality of Service (QoS) and Quality of Experience (QoE) in the telecom industry.
The meeting has served as a veritable platform for the Commission and service providers to discuss and agree on measures that will enhance prompt and effective consumer complaint resolution in telecom service provision in Nigeria.
