Doha: The Communications Regulatory Authority (CRA) recorded a significant increase in customer complaints in 2021 compared to the previous year. The CRA, which regulates the telecommunications and information technology sector, postal sector and access to digital media, also ensures the rights of consumers with the needs of service providers.
In an infographic, the CRA disclosed that customers of the major networks in Qatar, Ooredoo and Vodafone made 2,467 complaints in 2021 – a significant rise compared to 2020, which stood at 1,303. However, the CRA resolved 96 percent of the reports, while it added that 768 complaints were valid.
Ooredoo has the largest share of complaints between the two service providers, with 64 percent, while the CRA resolved 97 percent of the issues reported by Ooredoo customers. On the other hand, Vodafone customers registered 36 percent of the complaints in 2021 – 95 percent of these were resolved. Billing, service disconnection, service intermittent and quality issues dominated the mobile services complaints, reaching 69 percent. Charging and billing issues and service disconnections were the top complaints about fixed-line subscribers at 31 percent.
Meanwhile, in 2020, of the nearly 1,500 complaints, the CRA deemed 696 valid and resolved 95 percent of these issues. Besides mobile services, complaints were 71 percent, while 29 percent were related to fixed-line services.
Last year, the CRA issued a decision and order to Ooredoo to “take corrective action related to “Netflix” platform subscription service.”
According to the CRA, it had received several complaints from Ooredoo Qatar customers regarding incorrect invoices and unauthorised transactions for the Netflix subscription service.
Hence, it directed the service provider to Ooredoo Qatar to provide a refund to all the affected customers before June 20, 2021.
Also, last year, the CRA fined Ooredoo a total sum of QR3.5m due to Ooredoo’s non-compliance with the rules applicable to access and interconnection between licensed service providers and non-compliance with its obligations to file with the CRA and get the agency’s prior approval for tariffs for fixed telecom services.
This violated the CRA’s instructions about customer protection and violated the instructions for anti-competitive practices.
