The National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (NTRA) fined mobile phone service providers EGP 11.2m in the first half (1H) of 2022 for violating the standards for responding to complaints from telecom customers.
This came in the NTRA’s semi-annual report of the telecom service users’ complaints follow-up system, which presents the most important indicators related to the complaints of users of fixed and mobile services, along with fixed internet and mobile data, and the percentage and time of response to customer complaints after their escalation to the NTRA.
143,200 complaints were escalated to the NTRA by users against their service providers, including 64,100 complaints levelled at mobile phone service providers, 42,400 complaints regarding fixed internet services, 34,600 complaints concerning fixed phone services, and 1,900 complaints for mobile devices.
In its report, the NTRA said that EGP 3.8m were refunded to users from their service providers after the eligibility of their complaints was proven by the authority.
The NTRA added that the controls and rules for providing value-added services have been activated, obligating service providers to send activation codes and confirm the request for services, as well as messages on how to cancel services and transparency on the services provides.
User complaints were as follows:
The rate of mobile phone complaints was 66 complaints per 100,000 subscribers. The response rate for complaints after the escalation to NTRA was 92%, and the average response time for a complaint was 0.72 days.
Vodafone: The rate of complaints escalated to Vodafone was 64 complaints per 100,000 subscribers, and the response rate for complaints after the escalation to NTRA was 93%, and the average response time for a complaint was 0.19 days.
The most important complaints of Vodafone mobile phone users were related to the money portfolio (21%), bills/balance (18%), service interruption (14%), number porting (13%), and customer service (6%).
Orange: The rate of complaints escalated to Orange was 77 complaints per 100,000 subscribers. The response rate for complaints after escalation to the NTRA was 90%, and the average response time for a complaint was 1.7 days.
The most important complaints of users of Orange mobile phone services were concerning bills/credit (21%), transfer of numbers (15%), service interruption (11%), e-wallets (11%), and subscribing users unknowingly in entertainment services (10%).
Etisalat: The rate of complaints that were escalated regarding Etisalat was 57 complaints per 100,000 subscribers, and the response rate for complaints after escalating to the NTRA was 93%, with the average response time for a complaint being 0.35 days.
The most important complaints of Etisalat mobile phone users were number porting (26%), service interruptions (19%), bills/balance (16%), e-wallets (10%), and quality of services (5%).
WE: The rate of complaints escalated regarding WE was 58 complaints per 100,000 subscribers, and the response rate for complaints after being escalated to the NTRA was 95%, with the average response time for a complaint being 0.35 days.
The most important complaints by users of WE mobile phone services were number porting (19%), service interruption (19%), bills and balance (17%), e-wallets (10%), and customer service (8%).
