The Communications Regulatory Authority's (CRA) consumer awareness booth during the World Consumer Rights Day celebrations at the Villaggio Mall. Pic: Kammutty V P/The Peninsula
The Communications Regulatory Authority (CRA), communication sector regulator in Qatar, receives around 250 complaints every month, and majority are related to billing, service disconnection and network coverage.
Among those between 100 and 150 are valid complaints and the remaining are invalid as those fail to follow the required procedure, says Noof Al Nama, CRA spokesperson.
In 2016, CRA received 3,504 complaints, of which 1,446 were valid. Among the complaints more than 96 percent have been solved. “Complaints have risen because more people are coming in Qatar and the base of consumer is raising. We also see it as more consumers are becoming aware about their rights,” she told The Peninsula.
“Among all complaints, around 50% become invalid as some consumers fail to follow the required process. However, we take equal efforts in attending valid or invalid complaints. If the consumer has not followed the correct process we instruct them on what has to be done. The number of complaints also increase during the travel season and most are about roaming services,” she said speaking at a consumer awareness booth at Villaggio yesterday.
The booth under the theme, ‘Know Your Rights, as a telecom consumer,’ is offering different awareness activities to help people better understand their consumer rights and find out more how CRA can help address any concerns about their service provider. It includes an interactive information wall and a complaint wall featuring different methods consumers can lodge a complaint as well as the newly launched Arsel, CRA’s mobile app.
Consumers, who have an unresolved complaint or concerns about their telecom service provider, can easily contact CRA’s Consumer Affairs Department through a variety of channels, such as contacting the hotline 103, sending an email to [email protected] or through the mobile app Arsel.
“We treat consumers the same way every day, but we take the World Consumer Day as a tool to increase awareness about their rights and responsibilities. We launched the 24-hour hotline because so that the consumers can communicate to us and get a response immediately. It’s the same with the Arsel App, once we receive a complaint there is an automated process which starts immediately,” said Anirudh Sharma, Head of PR and Communications at CRA.
“If the complaint is about service disconnection, and if you have a mobile service disconnection and the complaint remains unresolved for 48 hours or 72 hours in case of fixed line disconnection, the consumer can complain to the CRA. But if the complaint is not related to a service disconnection, and remains unresolved for 30 days or if the consumer is dissatisfied with the solution offered by the telecom provider,” he added.
The awareness activities emphasise the responsibilities of the telecom consumer, which includes reading and understanding the contract’s terms and conditions before signing, keeping personal data safe, managing credit limits based on requirements, reading bills carefully before making payments, as well as to approach the service provider to resolve complaints before approaching CRA.
