Empowering regulators to protect consumer rights in the ICT sector

Transcription

1 Empowering regulators to protect consumer rights in the ICT sector FINAL REGULATORY ACTION PLAN REPORT FOR January 2011 Viv Padayatchy and Isabelle Gross 1

2 Table of Contents 1.0 INTRODUCTION RECOMMENDATIONS FOR REGULATORY ACTION PLAN CONCLUSION REFERENCES... 8 Page 2

3 1.0 INTRODUCTION This report is the action plan suggested to the Information & Communication Technologies Authority of Mauritius (ICTA) following the recommendations made in the Empowering regulators to protect consumer rights in the ICT sector research study carried out by Viv Padayatchy and presented to the stakeholder workshop held in December Following up on the issues raised at the initial Information and Communications Technology (ICT) consumer assessment / study conducted in , a second phase of the research was conducted in five (5) African countries which included Mauritius. The initial study had highlighted issues like pricing, quality of service and access to service, among others. This follow-up research had the support and approval of the Association of Regulators in Central, East and Southern Africa (ARICEA) and the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) of Canada. The research was aimed at finding ways to empower regulators to protect consumer rights in the ICT sector. A qualitative analysis of what the ICT consumers in Mauritius felt, was conducted in Q A group of selected customers were questioned on local ICT issues but they were also encouraged to make suggestions in problem areas they mostly thought needed to be addressed by service providers, the national ICT regulator and other stakeholders. Several techniques were used, among them face to face interviews and focus groups, to provide detailed feedback from the consumer s perspective on mobile and Internet services. Different areas related to customer service were dealt with, including network coverage, tariffs, quality of service and billing. Interim results were validated through a focus group to provide more insight on issues raised and to identify solutions to put forward. A final analysis was carried out and the research report was written 2. The results, the report and the recommendations from the research were presented on 9 December 2010 to ICTA, the national ICT regulator and other stakeholders at a one-day workshop at la Petite Cannelle, Domaine les Pailles in Port-Louis, Mauritius. 1 Southwood, R, Nguo, J, Sagna, O, Lewis, C,(2006) Assessing consumer activity in the telecoms and Internet sectors in Africa, IDRC, Ottawa, available online at 2 Padayatchy, V (2010) Consumer Protection Rights in the ICT Sector the Mauritian Case, Cybernaptics, Mauritius & LINK Centre Johannesburg, July Page 3

4 Recommendations suggested during the workshop have been submitted to the Mauritius regulator in order to translate them in an agreeable action plan with a timetable. 2.0 RECOMMENDATIONS FOR REGULATORY ACTION PLAN The recommendations listed in the table below aggregate recommendations from the research paper and recommendations raised during the stakeholders workshop in December People who attended the workshop consisted of representatives from the telecomms regulator, ICTA; representatives from the main telecoms operators (Mauritius Telecom/Orange, Emtel and MTNL), representatives from consumer associations (two associations represented) and representatives from various public administrations (police, state law office, and civil servants from various ministries). No representative from the press/media attended the workshop. The workshop s programme was drafted in such way to encourage all stakeholders to give their views on consumer rights matters and spur constructive discussions/debates among the participants on issues relevant the Mauritian consumers. Below is an outline of the workshop s programme: Presentation of the research report: Consumer Protection Rights in the ICT Sector the Mauritian Case; Multi Stakeholder Perspectives on Consumer Matters: - The Mauritian Regulator: Consumer and the Law: The Scope and Limits of the powers of the ICTA in the protection of consumers under the ICT Act; Consumer Affairs and Complaints Mechanism; ICTA Regulatory Measures for Consumer Protection; - Customer Care: The Operators Perspective; Panel discussion on how to Improve the Consumer Experience in the ICT Sector; Wrap up session with recommendations for action plan. Page 4

5 1. WORKSHOP RECOMMENDATIONS ACTION TO BE TAKEN / ALREADY TAKEN BY ICTA (a) strengthen the cooperation between the various actors (regulator, operators, consumer associations) on specific topics/projects ; (b) organisation of a stakeholders forum (to include regulator, operators, consumers associations but also other local bodies involved in ICT like the National Computer Board). The forum would be used to discuss specific topics which would have an impact on all stakeholders, a key example being the Internet Content Filtering project undertaken by the regulator (c) representation/involvement of the consumer association in projects developed by ICTA and the Ministry of ICT (d) introduction of a time limit within which to process consumers complaints (e) a common platform among ICT stakeholders with plan and assigned responsibilities (f) set up a self-regulatory body between consumer association and operators (less formal than stakeholder forum) (g) strengthen the department of consumer affairs at ICTA in partnership with the telecoms operators, possibly by regulation to be initiated by consumer associations and telecoms operators To be initiated by ICTA Page 5

6 2. RESEARCH RECOMMENDATIONS ACTION TO BE TAKEN / ALREADY TAKEN BY ICTA (a) clarify complaint handling process, escalation and resolution process (b) improving networking and competitive pricing policy (c) improving consumers awareness about the regulator s responsibility and duties regarding the protection of consumers rights (d) capacity building and information campaign aimed at educating consumers about their rights ICTA and operators will need to ensure that adequate codes of practice and guidelines are put in place to address consumers complaints in a fair and just manner and consumers associations The following ideas have also been submitted and discussed to provide ICTA with a quick way to increase consumer awareness about its role in protecting consumers rights: - to increase the regulator s presence and actions outside the capital city, the regulator could consider using the Citizen Advice Bureau network across the island; - to increase awareness about the regulator s work regarding the protection of consumers rights, the regulator could consider publishing on its website information related to the complaints processed (number and type of complaints received and processed, outcomes of the complaints, etc). Page 6

7 3.0 CONCLUSION Relating to the consumer best practices in the telecommunications sector 3, it is important that consumers are aware of the regulator s existence and the services it offers. Lack of awareness of the regulator was an important finding of the research report 4 and was also mentioned and discussed between stakeholders during the workshop. ICTA has some way to go in this respect; otherwise its efforts in protecting consumer rights in ICTs may go unnoticed in Mauritius. This would further enhance Mauritius international position in the ICT sector. As a reminder, the country sports some of the best telecommunication market indicators in Africa and has been the first with many innovations: Africa's first cellular system was launched there in 1989, the first commercial 3G mobile service in 2004, the world's first nationwide WiMAX wireless broadband network in 2005, and one of Africa's first IPTV services in Should more power be given to the Mauritian regulator to protect and empower consumers, or should there be a shift of focus towards consumer issues? Stakeholders including ICTA pointed to the fact that in Mauritius the regulator is already empowered to protect consumer rights as per the ICT Act. While ICTA has been actively involved in the last ten years in setting up a regulatory framework to create a level playing field for all operators to advance market liberalisation in Mauritius, a shift of focus towards the consumers was identified as a plausible regulatory approach in the future. A first draft of this action plan was submitted to the regulator on 17 December 2010 via the officer in charge of consumer affairs at ICTA, together with a request for a meeting to agree the proposed action points and to secure the endorsement of the regulator. A number of further attempts were in January and February 2011 to seek the regulator s feedback prior to finalising a formal Action Plan Report. As of 28 February 2011, there has been no response or feedback from ICTA to this report. 3 See: Gross, I, Southwood, R, (2000), Consumer Best Practices in the Telecoms Sector, Balancing Act, London, U.K 4 Padayatchy, V (2010) Consumer Protection Rights in the ICT Sector the Mauritian Case, Cybernaptics, Mauritius & LINK Centre Johannesburg, July 2010, page Consumer Padayatchy, V (2010) Consumer Protection Rights in the ICT Sector the Mauritian Case, Cybernaptics, Mauritius & LINK Centre Johannesburg, July 2010, page 3. Page 7

8 It is therefore tabled as a recommendation for adoption and implementation by ICTA. 4.0 REFERENCES 4.1 Southwood, R, Nguo, J, Sagna, O, Lewis, C, (2006) Assessing consumer activity in the telecoms and Internet sectors in Africa, IDRC, Ottawa, available online at Gross, I, Southwood, R, (2009), Consumer Best Practices in the Telecoms Sector, Balancing Act, and U.K Padayatchy, V (2010) Consumer Protection Rights in the ICT Sector the Mauritian Case, Cybernaptics, Mauritius & LINK Centre Johannesburg, July 2010 Page 8