The Communications Regulatory Authority (CRA) has called on consumers and service providers to comply with their responsibilities and respecting consumer rights as part of its activities to celebrate World Consumer Rights Day (WCRD) 2021.
The WCRD is marked on March 15 every year to raise global awareness of consumer rights and needs.
The CRA is Qatar’s communications agency which regulates the telecommunications and information technology sector, postal, and access to digital media. The CRA balances consumer rights with the needs of service providers.
“You are responsible to protect yourself as a telecom consumer by knowing your responsibilities and rights,” the CRA said in a statement on Twitter.
It urged consumers to read the contract and terms of service conditions before subscription (a 2020 survey from ProPrivacy.com showed that only 1% of technology users read ‘Terms & Conditions). The CRA noted that consumers should choose a suitable credit limit that meets their requirements, choose a convenient package, ensure they read notifications and bills sent by service providers, and lodge complaints to the service provider before reaching the CRA.
Meanwhile, telecoms service providers have been implored to provide innovative and high-quality services and customized services for consumers with special needs. The providers are to clarify terms and conditions of the service to the consumers before subscription, issue accurate and understandable bills in the consumer’s preferred language, send SMS notifications to consumers about their credit limit and receive and solve consumers’ complaints.
Recently, the CRA disclosed that it received 1,303 complaints and inquiries from consumers about telecom services in Qatar. According to the CRA, these complaints were evaluated based on a set of criteria to determine their validity to CRA’s complaint process, of which 696 were valid complaints, and CRA resolved 95% of the total complaints and inquiries received.
It stressed that it was working with Ooredoo Qatar and Vodafone Qatar to finalise the related investigation of the remaining ones.