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Recently there has been increased concerns from consumers regarding how telecommunication bundled services are structured and provided to end users.

Based on the above concern, TCRA has prepared this questionnaire in order to collect issues that need to be addressed to improve consumer experience, induce consumption of telecommunications services, improve assurance of revenue derived from the consumption, promote transparency in the billing, and ensure value for money for the services subscribed.

In order to meet the intended goal, TCRA is therefore requesting you to spare some minutes and respond to this questionnaire. Your response is secret between you and TCRA and will only be used for the purpose of this study.

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* 1. Duration of promotion, offers and bundled services


The Authority would like to get stakeholder opinions on the shortest and
longest time of bundles (duration) as well as minimum and maximum size
of bundles (quantity of units) linked to the validity of the bundles, as it
will help to set the minimum validity/expiry period of bundles.
You may provide a range for (i) and (ii).

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* 2. Billing issues related to over-charging, subscription to service that
is not delivered, or abrupt depletion of bundle units.

Overcharging is one of the frequently received complaints. There are
instances when customers have complained about being charged and
not being provided with the expected amount of service purchased or
the subscribed bundle depleted abruptly and not related to the actual
consumption made.

Should there be a compensation scheme for consumers that have
been overcharged, subject to verification?

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* 3. If, yes what should be the structure of the scheme?

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* 4. What approach to be used to verify charging and consumption
of units in a bundle?

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* 5. What mechanism should be in place to address overcharging
and unexpected depletion of bundles (especially data service)

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* 6. Subscription without consumer consent

To minimize incidences in which consumers are subscribed to bundled
services without their consent, TCRA intends to impose uniformity and
standards that services providers will have to adhere to when
subscribing and unsubscribing consumers. Some operators use pop
messages to communicate subscription or un-subscription information
and at times, following automatic subscription of service the burden of
unsubscribing is put on the consumer.

What structure should the exchange of information be that will
guarantee transparency, ease of burden for consumers, and retention
of proof for a subscription?

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* 7. What services should the consumer continue to receive from a Service
Provider if the subscribed bundle has finished and the consumer has
not subscribed to additional services? Such as emergency access and
any other services.

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* 8. Uniformity in accessing bundled products

Consumers access services of different networks using different subscription
numbers and methods. Although this introduces a dimension of
differentiation of the product, it increasingly confuses consumers and raise
switching costs when consumers consider moving from one network to the
other by either changing the SIM Card or using Mobile Number Portability
services.

Should there be a uniform number to access information relating to
bundle and other services that are similar across platforms?

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* 9. Is there a need of adopting uniform name across all service providers
for bundles which does not expire (e.g. “Non-expiry bundles”).

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* 10. Metrics to be used to monitor bundled products.

To ensure quality services are provided to consumers and accurately
verified, TCRA proposes the establishment of metrics which will be the
parameters to measure billing accuracy.

What do you propose as measurement parameters and
allowable/tolerable variance during verification of actual
consumption vs. purchased/subscribed units, against which regulatory
action can be taken?

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* 11. Clarity of Terms and Conditions for bundled services


There are concerns regarding presence of unclear terms and conditions of
bundles, promotion and special offers, including subscribers not fully
understand the contents of their bundles and data speeds normally
decrease as bundle nears depletion.

Do you fully read and understand the terms and conditions of a bundle
before purchase?

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* 12. Are the terms and conditions clear and do they provide all information
needed to make a rational decision? (for service providers, provide a
sample Terms and Conditions)

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* 13. What approach can be adopted to ensure that consumers read and
agree to terms and conditions of the bundles before subscription?

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* 14. Please write terms and conditions in the bundle, promotion and special
offers which you think are unclear and confusing and should be
removed/revised immediately?

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* 15. Do service providers provide information regarding data speeds in the
bundle consumption information?

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* 16. Number of bundles and options available to consumers

Currently, there is a total of about 754 bundles in the market offered
by all service providers, the lowest number of bundles per operator
is 24 bundles while the highest is 294 bundles classified into daily,
weekly, monthly, 90 days or 180 days bundles. While this information
may conveniently be provided to users of smartphones by use of
Graphic User Interface (GUI) on an Application, it is inconvenient
when this message is presented in text format especially for
consumers with featured mobile phones

Should there be a limit to the number of bundles that can be easily
accessed, and explored by the user before deciding to subscribe?

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* 17. How many bundles do you propose per service provider?

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* 18. How long should a bundle stay in the market without being
modified (adjust price or quantity of units in a bundle)?

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* 19. What is the best method of presenting bundle tariff and
associated Terms and Condition information to consumers?

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* 20. Frequency of Promotions, special offers and bundling tariff changes

The Authority intends to specify the number of Promotions, special offers
and bundles changes so that consumers are not confused and end up
choosing what they did not intend.

What are your views about the appropriate number of promotion and
special offers in the market?

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* 21. What are your views regarding the frequency of promotions and
special offers in the market?

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* 22.  Knowledge on bundle consumption

Consumers are empowered through the provision of education on the
services and products offered; including usage terms and conditions.

What are your views on the provision of notification at no charge for
post-paid and pre-paid users to be based on percentage depletion or
bundle units remaining? That is consumers be notified at intervals of
90% and 100% (percentage depletion) or that only informed of the
remaining resources (voice, SMS, data) remaining but be notified at
least two times before 100% usage so that they have enough time to
make and act on their choice.

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* 23. Expiry of bundles and Rollover of unused bundles

Non-rollover of data bundles after the expiry of bundle validity time
(duration) is an area complained about by many; it is proposed to
introduce rollover of unused data.

What will be the impact of such a decision on the pricing and
consumption of the telecommunication services?

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* 24. What are your views on having bundles that do not expire?

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* 25. What are your proposals, including Terms and Conditions for
rolling over of data?

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* 26. What are your proposals, including Terms and Conditions for
transfer of data from one user to the other in the same network?

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* 27. Provision of Fair Usage Policy to empower consumer to have
necessary information to manage and monitor usage

Regarding the provision of fair usage policy in respect of promotions, offers
and bundles, Standard Fair Usage Policy is required to ensure that
consumers remain empowered and are able to make informed decisions.

What should be a Standard Fair Usage Policy concerning the use
of bundles?

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* 28. What should be a composition of the Standard Fair Usage Policy?

0 of 28 answered
 

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