The Communications Regulatory Authority (CRA) resolved 95% of consumers’ complaints received in 2017. To address issues raised by consumers such as billing, Premium SMS services, disconnections and delays in activation, CRA also engaged with the service providers to discuss solutions to the challenges in the delivery of communication services in Qatar.
CRA received 1786 inquiries and 1,203 complaints from consumers about service providers in Qatar in 2017. Of these, 490 were invalid complaints and from the remaining 713 valid complaints 95% were resolved, and CRA is investigating the remaining complaints with the service providers and expects to resolve them in the coming weeks.
“As part of CRA’s role to protect telecom consumers in Qatar, CRA is proactively and effectively managing and resolving consumers’ complaints through effective and reliable processes. CRA also ensures that competition is promoted and telecom consumers experience is improved, and that consumers have access to high quality communications services," said Amel Salem Al-Hanawi, CRA’s Consumer Affairs Manager.
The statistics indicate that 74% of all the valid complaints were related to mobile services and 26% related to fixed line services. For mobile services, 56% of the complaints received related to billing issues, 11% related to service disconnections, and 8% related to Premium SMS services. As for fixed-line services, 65% of the complaints related to service disconnections while 14% of the complaints related to billing and 12% delay in installation.
CRA has conducted extensive awareness campaigns and consumer outreach events in 2017 to ensure that telecom consumers know their rights and responsibilities, and know how CRA can help them in issues related to telecommunications services. CRA also published alerts to create awareness on different subjects such as roaming, scam calls, monitoring data usage, protecting personal information against potential risks.
Another key initiative by CRA is the award winning mobile app “Arsel”, which has an extensive range of useful features giving users the ability to check any network coverage issues reported in their area, and their Internet speed (Mobile/Wi-Fi), and report these to the CRA. The app also allows users to lodge complaints against the service providers using accurate location based information, follow-up on their complaints, send relevant documents and receive updates.
Under CRA’s resolution process for telecom complaints; consumers with a complaint are free to approach the CRA if a complaint lodged directly to their service provider remains unresolved for 30 calendar days, or if they are dissatisfied with the resolution offered. Complaints are then assessed by the CRA against a set of criteria to determine their validity. CRA receives and investigates complaints by working with both the consumers and service providers to find a fair and mutually acceptable resolution.
Telecom consumers can contact the CRA in a variety of ways: the 24/7 hotline number (103), email CRA, using “Arsel” mobile application, by tweeting directly to @CRAqatar, CRA’s online complaint form or by visiting the CRA’s headquarters at Al Nasr Tower B.