Phone Right Consumer

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Send all your updates about mobile telecoms and plans for WCRD 2014 to

Reileen Joy Dulay at [email protected] and join http://lists.consumersinternational.org/wws/info/wcrd

World Consumer Rights Day:Saturday 15 March 2014

FIX OUR PHONE RIGHTS!

About Consumers International

Established in 1960, CI is the world federation of consumer rights groups. Our goal is to ensure that consumerrights can never be ignored. With over 240 member organisations spanning 120 countries, we serve as the

only independent and authoritative global voice for consumer rights. We are a registered UK charity.





World Consumer Rights Day: Saturday 15 March 2014 Fix Our Phone Rights!

Contents World Consumer Rights Day: Fix Our Phone Rights! .............................................................................................. 3Why Phone Rights are important ........................................................................................................................... 3

Get involved ............................................................................................................................................................ 3

CI’s agenda for Phone Rights ................................................................................................................................... 4

How consumer groups are already fighting for Phone Rights……………………………………………………………………………..5

Case studies to help your campaign …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..6

Provide consumers with fair contracts explained in clear, complete and accessible language ............................. 6

Provide consumers with their money’s worth ........................................................................................................ 7

Provide consumers with fair and transparent billing .............................................................................................. 8

Provide consumers with power over their own information ................................................................................. 9

Listen and respond to consumer complaints ....................................................................................................... 10

Appendix I ............................................................................................................................................................ 12



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World Consumer Rights Day: Saturday 15 March 2014

Fix Our Phone Rights!

Can you imagine a world without mobile phones? In just a few years they have become an indispensable part

of our lives and can be found in almost every country around the world.

But as the number of consumers using mobile services nears 7 billion, what sort of service are they receiving?

Are they being treated fairly? Our 2014 World Consumer Rights Day (WCRD) campaign “Fix Our Phone Rights!”

is devoted to tackling the issues that most effect consumers of mobile services.

WCRD was established on 15 March 1983 to promote consumer rights around the world. For WCRD 2014, we

are calling on CI Members and Supporters to highlight the consumer issues that are undermining and

frustrating the success of this new technology.

Why Phone Rights are important

In 2013 it was estimated that 6.8 billion people owned a mobile phone. In 2011 that figure was 6 billion and in

2010 it was 5.4 billioni. When you consider that there are only 7.2 billion people in the world you realise how

widespread mobile phones have become!

At the same time mobile services have transformed from just being telephones that enable us to talk and text,

to mini computers giving us access to information and services that are crucial to livelihoods and health. They

are not just convenient, but increasingly important tools that help to empower citizens and consumers. Having

access to mobile connectivity is a necessity and has gone beyond being a frivolous activity.

Get involved

As we get closer to WCRD 2014, CI will be highlighting the problems and challenges faced by mobile consumers

across the world. This will culminate in a global action in the final week running up to 15 March. Together with



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your national activities, we hope to ring in some significant changes to the way mobile consumers are treated.

Details of how you can get involved will be with you in January, so please key an eye out for CI WCRD

communications.

Also make sure you subscribe to CI’s WCRD 2014 e-network to get the latest updates:

http://lists.consumersinternational.org/wws/info/wcrd

CI’s agenda for Phone Rights

CI is developing a WCRD consumer agenda for Phone Rights. These are issues that affect mobile consumers

across the world in some way, and we hope every CI Member and Supporter can join the call too. Some of the

issues we want to address are:

1. Provide consumers with fair contracts explained in clear, complete and accessible language

Consumers often feel cheated by their mobile provider, either because of unfair contract terms and

conditions or because they didn’t understand what they had signed. Telecom providers should always

provide consumers with fair contracts with all relevant information explained clearly so that consumers

can exercise their right to make informed choices.

2. Provide consumers with their money's worth

Consumers subscribe to mobile services in order to communicate and to access information. It is only

reasonable that they then expect those services to be consistent and of a high quality without drop

outs in service.

3. Provide consumers with fair and transparent billing

Consumers shouldn’t be billed for services they didn’t request. We demand fairness and transparency






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in our bills, and protection from billing fraud.

4. Provide consumers with power over their own information!

Telecoms providers and regulators alike must protect the personal data that consumers give up in

order to use mobile services. Whilst giving consent to use personal data can enhance the experience of

using a mobile phone, it can also compromise the consumer ’s right to safety. Consumers must be able

to set the terms of how this data is used.

5. Listen and respond to consumer complaints

Telecom providers should have effective complaints systems, and if consumers are not satisfied thereshould be redress mechanisms to ensure a fair outcome. We must be able to penalise providers for

abusive and unjust business practices.

How consumer groups are already fighting for Phone Rights

Developments in mobile telecommunication continue to deliver real benefits to consumers all around the

world. However, despite the undoubted success of the mobile telecom industry, critical concerns remain about

consumer rights to information, security, privacy, mutual trust and fairness. In many countries around the

world consumers suffer from abuses, unfair practices and inconsistencies in mobile telecommunications

services.

In Malaysia, the National Consumer Complaints Centre (NCCC) - an independent body monitoring consumer

complaints, noted in its 2012 Annual Report that the sector with the highest number of complaints was

telecommunications. The 5,985 complaints included poor connectivity and tariff and billing concerns.



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Within the telecoms sector, most complaints often stem from mobile services. The Telecommunications

Industry Ombudsman (TIO) of Australia released its 2012-2013 report showing more complaints about mobile

services than any other telephone or Internet service. Of the 91,331 received mobile services complaints,

issues on coverage i.e. inability to make or receive calls and messages, inability to connect to the internet,

poor voice quality, and call dropouts - hit the number one spot with 25,770 complaints recordedii.

Case studies to help your campaign

1. Provide consumers with fair contracts explained in clear, complete and accessible language

A significant concern for consumers is the misleading, unclear and incomplete information that consumers are

given when they purchase mobile services. There are many reported cases in which consumers feel their

contracts are unfair or where they are not provided complete information on the provisions of the contract.

The result is often confusion and additional charges for end-users.

Examples of unfair and unclear contracts include:

Consumers are not provided with complete information about their contract.

There are hidden/vague provisions for automatic subscription renewals.

Consumers are unaware they are locked in to a lengthy commitment.

Unfair penalties are imposed for switching or terminating the service.

Which? UK

When UK consumers with a ‘fixed tariff’ contract were forced to pay for price hikes, CI’s UK member Which?

launched a successful ‘Fixed should mean fixed’iii campaign that called for the mobile phone companies to allow

the subscribers to leave their contract without penalty, if the network provider increased its service charges

beyond what was agreed in the signed contract.



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FOCUA-Consumers in Action, Spain

In Spain, CI Member FOCUA-Consumers in Action led the campaign #liberamimovil (unlock my mobile) against

the sale of locked mobile handsets to subscribers and the refusal to unlock these until the completion of their

contracts. Since the Consumer Protection Act in Spain recognises the autonomy of consumer authorities in

each of the 17 Autonomous Communities iv, FOCUA-Consumers in Action lobbied to fine companies which

continue to practice such policy, Movistar (one of the largest telecommunications providers in Spain)

announced the cessation of the policyv.

2. Provide consumers with their money's worth

High fees and promises from telecom providers encourage consumers to expect mobile connectivity at all

times, yet despite technological developments, poor service continues to be a perennial concern.

Examples of poor service include:

Poor mobile coverage - Mobile connection is inconsistent and fluctuating such that consumers

can’t use mobile services from one area to another.

Service drop outs Consumers experience drop outs, slow mobile Internet access or mobile

applications that crash.

Poor complaints - handling and a failure to resolve problems. Consumers are kept on hold for

long periods of time and fail to have their problems resolved to their satisfaction.

Association des Consommateurs du Mali (ASCOMA), Mali

In Mali, with the support of CI, the Association des Consommateurs du Mali (ASCOMA) vi has called for the

telecom providers to improve their network facilities in order to deliver the promotional services that are being

promoted to consumers. The poor network facilities cause call drop outs and network dead spots. With these

inefficiencies, the consumers are not benefitting from the services offered.



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Countryside Alliance, UK

In south west England, the public were encouraged to get involved in the Countryside Alliance's campaign to

improve mobile phone coverage in the rural areas of the region, which often experiences poor to no network

signals. According to Countryside Alliance, the poor network quality results in the loss in livelihoods vii.

3. Provide consumers with fair and transparent billing

Without clear and complete information, consumers are vulnerable to unfair charging for mobile services. Too

often consumers are charged for services and products that they have not authorised or that are associated

with free services. Consumer rights are also compromised when they are billed with products or services they

did not purchase, products or services they did not receive or when they are charged at a higher fee than the

fee that was advertised. These abuses are collectively known as ‘cramming’.

Examples of unfair and unclear billing include:

Hidden charges.

Consumers pay for a service or product which is more expensive than its published rate.

Scamming. Consumers receive calls or text messages from an unknown number offering

promotions and prizes, but are asked to sign up for a service before receiving the promotion.

They then find they are billed for this additional service.

Non-transparent charging scheme. Consumers are often confused by the complicated pricing

tariffs or are simply unaware of charges and costs due to the complexity of the information

they are given.

Excessive roaming charges. Using mobile services abroad can result in sky-high mobile phone

bills.





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Data breach and identity theft due to inadequate security measures by the mobile providerxi.

Consumers’ data and personal information can be accessed without authorisation, either

through a deliberate attack, by someone trying to impersonate the consumer or weak

protection that allows personal data to be viewed.

Mobile surveillance. Consumers’ data is collected and used by companies in ways that they

haven’t agreed to and don’t agree to.

Rwanda Consumer’s Rights Protection Organization's (ADECOR), Rwanda

In July 2013, all mobile users in Rwanda were required to register their SIM cards with mobile telephone

operators to protect the identity of the consumers and to combat terrorist acts. This move, though intended to

provide security, could also threaten the privacy of consumers and citizens. For this reason, the RwandaConsumer’s Rights Protection Organization's (ADECOR) proposed a campaign called “Stop Airing My Privacy”,

seeking to directly engage with ICT companies and mobile operators to ensure that consumers’ information is

respected. Government bodies such as the Ministry of ICT, Youth, and members of the parliament will be

encouraged to review the use of consumers' data.

The Slovenian Consumers Association (ZPS), Slovenia

The Slovenian Consumers Associationxii (ZPS), with support from CI, has launched a campaign calling for

telecom providers to provide better information to consumers about their automatic membership to unwanted

messages from “SMS club” services. This has resulted in third party providers billing consumers with additionalcharges and having access to their information. Despite the access the SMS club has to the consumers'

information, the consumers are not able to communicate directly with the SMS club to stop the charges.

5. Listen and respond to consumer complaints

International guidelines for how telecom providers, mobile vendors and governments should work together to

establish fair, effective, and transparent self-regulatory mechanisms, policies, and procedures to handle and

resolve consumer complaints and disputes, have been in place since 2008xiii.

However, many consumers still don’t know where to turn when they have a problem and many disputes are



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left unresolved.

Inadequate regulatory policies and procedures include:

A lack of strong policies on regulation of mobile telecom providers.

A lack of strong policies on dispute resolution between consumers, mobile telecom providers

and government.

The high cost of seeking redress.

Tanzania Consumers Advocacy Society (TCAS), Tanzania

In 2013, CI’s Member in Tanzania, the Tanzania Consumers Advocacy Society (TCAS) launched a campaign

against a proposed monthly SIM card tax of Sh1,000. The tax threatens to make mobile services unaffordablefor the poorest households who, it is estimated, only spend Sh3,154 per month on airtime xiv. Aside from the

economic burden, the SIM card tax has not undergone consultation among the citizens of Tanzaniaxv. Following

the launch of the campaign, the telecommunication providers have also joined TCAS in opposing the new tax.

Telecommunication User Committee, Argentina

In Argentina, the Telecommunication User Committee launched a campaign to raise awareness on the abuses

of telecom providers. A fifteen-point call was released by the Committee to promote changes in the regulatory

provisions in the telecommunication sector to ensure that consumers are protected from any unfair practices

concerning tariffs, contracts, quality of service and redress mechanisms.

The Telecommunication User Committee is composed of 24 consumers organisations, of which some are CI

Members – Consumidores Argentinos, Adelco, ProConsumer, Protectora, UCA and Union de Usuarios y

Consumidoresxvi.





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xi See http://www.techopedia.com/definition/13601/data-breach

xii See http://www.zps.si/

xiii See Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Consumer Policy Guidance on

Online and Mobile Payments. 4-6 November 2013.

xiv See http://www.thecitizen.co.tz/News/Dar-telcos-join-consumers-in-lawsuit-over-SIM-card-tax/-

/1840392/2026062/-/o4nbm4z/-/index.html

xv See http://www.twaweza.org/go/sauti-brief-sim-tax

xvi See http://consumidoresarg.org.ar/article/campana-contra-los-de-las-empresas-de-telef/

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