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Dear all,<br>
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. <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.regulateonline.org/content/view/213/65/">http://www.regulateonline.org/content/view/213/65/</a><br>
<br>
As mentioned by Alice, there is a Consumer Center on the CCK website -
which is an extremely useful feature. <br>
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. <br>
<blockquote>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?<br>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>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?<br>
</blockquote>
<br>
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. <br>
<br>
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.<br>
<br>
Thanks for the great discussion thus far. Very useful.<br>
<br>
- Amy Mahan<br>
<br>
<small><font face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif"><span
class="moz-txt-tag"></span>_______________________________________________
<br>
<br>
Amy Mahan, LIRNE.NET Coordinator
<br>
Montevideo, Uruguay
<br>
<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="http://www.lirne.net">www.lirne.net</a><br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="http://www.regulateonline.org">www.regulateonline.org</a><br>
</font></small><small><font face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif"></font></small><small><font
face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">________________________________________________
</font></small><br>
<br>
<br>
<blockquote
cite="mid:mailman.1.1192525201.74676.kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke"
type="cite">
<pre wrap=""><!---->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 <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="http://www.cck.go.ke">www.cck.go.ke</a>
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
(<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.regulateonline.org/content/view/354/69/">http://www.regulateonline.org/content/view/354/69/</a> ) 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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</pre>
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