[kictanet] kictanet Digest, Vol 5, Issue 22

[A.K. Mahan]

Dear all,
I am new to this list and have been lurking. In addition to the Latin 
American and Caribbean study noted by Alice, the World Dialogue on 
Regulation also conducted a similar survey of Africa in 2003 - for which 
the Kenyan regulatory website was observed to be a best practice 
website. http://www.regulateonline.org/content/view/213/65/

As mentioned by Alice, there is a Consumer Center on the CCK website - 
which is an extremely useful feature.
In addition to what kind of information is made available, we also need 
to think about how it is organised and presented. At the CCK site, the 
information on the Consumer Center page seems overly formal.  The tone 
and language of that section could be a bit more user friendly with 
examples of complaints and the kind of documentation that would be 
required. 

    For example, I bought a prepaid card last month that was supposed to
    have 20 minutes of time on it. And after carefully monitoring my
    time so that I have enough for two months, more than 30 days after I
    bought the card I find out that I could only make 15 minutes of
    calls. What do I do? Your site tells me that I have to exhaust all
    possibilities with the provider. Is that the person I bought the
    card from? If I call the number on the card and they take the
    complaint but say they can't help me, can I complain to the regulator?

    Or, I have subscribed to a broadband (yeah!!) service. But from noon
    until about 6pm it is really slow. I've called my service provider,
    but they say everything is fine. Can I measure this? How do I show
    it is too slow for what I am paying?


Some websites post the complaints that are being reviewed by the 
regulator; other websites post yearly consumer complaint indicators. 
Also, an online feature to submit questions could be useful.

In a recent study of the Uruguayan regulator, we found that attention to 
consumer affairs was lacking on all levels (by the regulators, consumers 
and the private sector) simply because there is no historical tradition 
of a consumer movement in the country. One of the reports 
recommendations was for the regulator to work with the local consumer 
advocacy groups to strengthen them and make them a better resource for 
consumers. Developing a strong relationship with the consumer advocacy 
groups would also serve to lessen the burden on regulators in terms of 
improving communication and disseminating information to consumers via 
these groups.

Thanks for the great discussion thus far. Very useful.

- Amy Mahan

_______________________________________________

Amy Mahan, LIRNE.NET Coordinator
Montevideo, Uruguay

www.lirne.net
www.regulateonline.org
________________________________________________


> The CCK recently unveiled the CCK service chatter that sets public 
> expectations Re: dealing with the Commission and its staff 
> interchangeably called the "The Customer Service Charter " it outlines 
> rights and responsibilities and the procedure to follow if  CCK service 
> standards are not met. available at www.cck.go.ke
>
> Then there is a consumer center on the website, which includes some 
> useful links e.g how to make a complaint, what you need to know about 
> telecoms services, but is this enough?
> I think the following  benchmarks 
> (http://www.regulateonline.org/content/view/354/69/ ) for Latin American 
> and Caribbean Regulatory Authority Websites are rather useful
>
> best
> alice
>
> above comments are personal and do not reflect any position of the organizations I am affiliated with
>
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