The Saudi Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC) has introduced regulatory amendments to the telecom law in the kingdom, according to statement sent by email to Zawya.
The board of directors of CITC, chaired by the Saudi minister of communication and information technology Abdullah Alswaha, approved the amendments with a view to protecting consumer rights, improving the process of resolving complaints and adding transparency to the sector, the statement added.
One of the key amendments is reducing the time required to resolve a complaint from ten days to a maximum of five days.
The regulator also increased the number of days within which a user is allowed to complain about a bill from 30 to 60 days, starting from the day that a bill is issued.
A third amendment states that the telecoms provider is no longer authorised to suspend the telecoms service, or any of the other services provided to a user, nor request the disputed amount is paid while a complaint is being examined.
The amendments come into effect from today (Monday, 25 September 2017).
The regulator last week lifted a ban on internet calling applications, in a move that aims to adopt advanced policies in the communication and information technology sector, and to provide better services for users.