SA mobile operators hang up on consumer protection ombudsman

·10 Apr 2016

Vodacom, Cell C, and Telkom no longer participate in or pay towards the South African Consumer Goods and Services Ombudsman (CGSO), the Sunday Times Power Report said.

CGSO released its annual report this week, which showed that MTN saw the most complaints to the ombudsman of any other company in South Africa.

However, six months’ complaints against the other operators is missing from the report, Sunday Times said.

“It needs also to be pointed out that the number of complaints received against the other network providers reflects only the portion of the year to July 2015,” the ombudsman said.

“CGSO stopped dealing with their complaints because of their continual refusal to join CGSO.”

Subscription fees the issue?

The National Consumer Commission (NCC) told Power Report that it could not compel operators to join the CGSO.

Networks were not against subscribing to the ombudsman, it said, but asked for a different arrangement when it came to subscription fees.

Annual fees range from R1,500 for companies with turnover between R1-million and R5-million, to R250,000 for turnover of over R3-million.

Cell C, Telkom, and Vodacom told Power Report that complaints regarding defective handsets and contractual disputes are currently being handled by the NCC.

Complaints regarding billing and network coverage fall under the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa.

Vodacom and Cell C explained that while they are in discussions with the NCC, the commission has resolved to handle complaints for now.

Read the full report in the Sunday Times of 10 April 2016.