HONOUR CONSUMER CODE, TELCOS TOLD
Complaints received must be solved within time frame, says Gobind
THE seven telecommunications companies (telcos) which have signed the Consumer First Pledge must comply with the proposed General Consumer Code of Practice which prioritises complaint resolution and customer service quality, said Communications and Multimedia Minister
Gobind Singh Deo.
The seven telcos are Celcom Axiata Bhd, Digi Telecommunications Sdn Bhd, Maxis Broadband Sdn Bhd, Telekom Malaysia Bhd, TIME dotcom Bhd, U Mobile Sdn Bhd and YTL Communications Sdn
Bhd.
The proposed code underlines, among others, the need for
60 per cent of the complaints received to be solved within three working days; 90 per cent within five working days; and 95 per cent within 15 working days, he said.
He said it was an improvement to the existing standard of which 90 per cent of the complaints had to be solved within 15 working days, and 95 per cent completed within 30 working days.
“I hope with this pledge, the problems faced by service users can be addressed urgently and the number of complaints regarding the quality of service will be reduced,” he said yesterday.
The seven companies pledged to implement various improvements, including providing a more transparent mechanism for users to check the status of their complaints; promoting a more accessible complaint handling process; and enabling a fair and reasonable complaint resolution.
According to Gobind, the use of fixed broadband service had shown an increase of up to 21.7 per cent over the past six months through the reduction of broadband prices by 49 per cent and the increase of speed, but still many complaints were received about the service.
According to the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission’s (MCMC) statistics, more than 18,000 complaints were received on broadband service problems in the last quarter of last year while 14,000 complaints were received in the first quarter of this year.
As such, he said he would ask MCMC to monitor all complaints regarding telecommunications services as well as the efficiency of service providers in resolving the complaints in accordance with the pledge.
“The MCMC needs to monitor the process of settlement of complaints and ensure that the pledge is fulfilled,
“The MCMC also reserves the right to put in place the necessary conditions through existing law in its jurisdiction to ensure that complaints are addressed quickly and efficiently in the future,” he added.