Consistent with the Consumer Complaints Management policy of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), the Commission has, over the years published a summarized complaints report on a Quarterly basis as part of information service provided to Nigerian telecoms subscribers.
In furtherance to the above, the Commission has developed various channels for telecoms consumers to file their complaints. These include; the Toll free line - 622, Consumer Web Portal, various Social Media handles in addition to written complaints.
In Quarter 1 2018, the Commission received a total of 13,880 complaints from subscribers. The following charts show the numbers and percentage of complaints for each of the four major Service Providers;
Complaints by Type
The following chart shows that Billing Issues account for the highest number of complaints received during the quarter i.e. 51%, while Value Added Services (VAS) and Call Setup complaints account for the second and third highest number of complaints received by the Commission with 14% and 8.4% respectively
NOTES
Billing related complaints include the following;
- Deductions from activations of unsolicited VAS and telecom promotions and products
- Over deduction (Inaccurate charges)
- Charges for unauthorised services
- Charges for unsuccessful calls
- Charges for undelivered SMS
- Inability to change tariff plan
- Virtual top-up deducted but not received
- Charges for Caller Ring Back Tune not downloaded, etc.
Trend Analysis
The number of complaints decreased from 17,247 in Q4 (2017) to 13,880 in Q1 2018 (approximately by 20%). This can largely be attributed to the rise in the level of consumer awareness and activation of Do-Not-Disturb (DND) services.
This increase can be attributed to the rise in the number of consumers that are getting aware of the Commissions' complaints channels i.e. 622 toll free line, Consumer Web Portal, various Social Media handles – twitter, Facebook, including written complaints from customers.
Analysis of Subscribers Using Do-Not-Disturb (DND) Services
The Commission had, in 2016, mandated Mobile Network Operators to set aside short code 2442 for Do-Not-Disturb (DND) Services on their networks. The DND Service affords telecoms subscribers with the opportunity to manage unsolicited telemarketing messages on their lines.
The following table shows that as at 31st March 2018, about 9.3 million subscribers have activated the DND Service on their lines.This is a 12.5% increase from the figure as at the end of Quarter 4, 2017.
| Period | Airtel | 9mobile | Globacom | MTN | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DND Activation as at 31/12/2017 |
Partial | 68,702 | 4,678 | 26,847 | 31,873 | 132,100 |
| Full | 1,707,560 | 1,825,474 | 734,766 | 3,962,870 | 8,230,670 | |
| January 2018 | Partial | 2,037 | 656 | 487 | 612 | 3,792 |
| Full | 82,072 | 71,583 | 60,447 | 125,645 | 339,747 | |
| February 2018 | Partial | 2,397 | 510 | 315 | 361 | 3,583 |
| Full | 34,054 | 66,553 | 46,635 | 88,511 | 235,753 | |
| March 2018 | Partial | 4,094 | 612 | 616 | 488 | 5,810 |
| Full | 45,941 | 73,442 | 78,110 | 109,891 | 307,384 | |
| DND Activation as at 31/03/2018 |
Partial | 77,230 | 6,456 | 28,265 | 33,334 | 145,285 |
| Full | 1,869,627 | 2,037,052 | 919,958 | 4,286,917 | 9,113,554 | |
| TOTAL | 1,946,857 | 2,043,508 | 948,223 | 4,320,251 | 9,258,839 | |