Consumer body launches full-scale probe of network service providers
The National Consumer Commission (NCC) will spend the next 12 months unpacking claims that certain mobile network service providers were proposing unfair call and data tariff increases.
In April, following a public uproar over proposed cellular tariff hikes and the receipt of consumer complaints against the proposed changes, the commission initiated an inquiry into the claims.
The inquiry has now become a full-scale investigation into network service providers and the relevant terms and conditions, as the actions have seemingly gone against the Consumer Protection Act, which determines that a supplier is required to notify the consumer in writing or any other recordable form of any material changes to a fixed-term contract.
It is also presumed unfair for a supplier to increase the initially agreed-upon price in a contract term without giving the consumer the right to terminate the agreement.
Consumers who felt the network service providers would be acting unfairly if they increased the tariffs of existing fixed-term contract holders had lodged thirty-one complaints against Vodacom and one against Cell C.
This emerged as cellular- related complaints ranked the third-highest among the complaints received by the NCC in the 2014/15 financial year.
Of the 946 complaints, 25% relate to contract cancellation, 24% to poor service delivery and 21% to defective handsets.
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