MCA receives 240 complaints in second half of 2014

The Malta Communications Authority (MCA) recently published a report about the complaints it had received in the second half of 2014. The Authority said that it had received 240 compalints during this period with an average of 40 complaints every month.

The Authority also said that it had received 243 requests for information from various consumers about different sectors. Among the complaints and questions are several cases where the MCA has no jurisdiction and where it therefore couldn’t provide consumers with the necessary assistance. The MCA explained that it had directed consumers to concerned Authorities in such cases.

“The most common complaints were those about termination of services,” the authority said, adding that in such cases, the Authroity guides subscribers to follow the necessary steps for effective termination of services,” the Authority said.

MCA added that it is also repsonsibe for ensuring that operators stick to their termination procedures.

“During the second half of 2014, the Authority also took regulatory action after it emerged that in some cases local operators didn’t respect termination procedures,” it added.

The Authority noted that , the necessary action to properly address these issues was taken following its intervention.

The Authority also explained that it had registered a number of complaints related to bills, payments and tariffs. The authority intervened in cases where extra charges had been applied to subscirbers by ensuring a revision of the bills.

The Authority also said that it had received complaints from consumers who needed more information about their bills. Under these circumstances, the authority asked operators to assist and give the required information as necessary.

“We also received complaints related to intermittent damage and disruptions to internet and fixed telephone lines,” the authority said adding that there were various factors that could have led to such damages including infrastructural damage to the operators themselves, damage in internal wiring at subscriber homes or client equipment.

“In cases where it was clear that the damage was not a result of a “force majeure,” the MCA provided subscribers with an appropriate recompense.

It was also reported that during the given period, there was a drop in the number of complaints sent in by post, particularly when compared to the same period in previous years (2014, 2012).

“The majority of these complaints were related to delays or lack of delivery of ordinary and registered mail,” it said.

In these circumstances the authority stressed that it had brought these cases to MaltaPost’s attention to ensure that necessary action was taken to address these issues.

The report also details activities that MCA participated in between July and December 2014. These included an informative campaign launched in July 2014 to promote the drop in roaming tariffs introduced through new EU regulations.

“On occasion of the world post day, the authority launched another informative campaign to inform and advise postal consumers about their rights. During the second half of 2014, the Authority published a series of research projects to better understand user perceptions with respect to postal service quality.” It added.

The full report is available on the MCA website or at: http://www.mca.org.mt/consumer/notices-and-announcements/end-user-affairs-july-december-2014