The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has reiterated its commitment towards improving quality of service in the country’s telecom sector, even as a report disclosed that 95 percent of complaints from telecoms consumers were resolved within a 15-month period.
In a statement signed by the Commission’s Director of Public Affairs, Dr. Ikechukwu Adinde, the telecom regulator stated even as the global community grapples with the challenges of containing the spread and management of COVID-19 pandemic, leading to a heavy reliance on teleom services, its commitment to consumer satisfaction remains undeterred.
Meanwhile, the report released by the Commission shows that 26,169 complaints were received and managed by the Commission to the satisfaction of the overwhelming majority of telecom consumers. Of that number, 25,575, representing 98 percent of the total complaints received were expeditiously resolved.
According to the Commission, the complaints were received through all the Commission’s official channels of communication. These include 24,481 complaints received through Commission’s Contact Centres; 1,007 complaints received through the NCC Consumer Portal; and 296 others received as written complaints submitted at NCC Head Office in Abuja and at the Commission’s five zonal offices in Lagos, Enugu, Port Harcourt, Kano and Ibadan.
Complaints also reached the Commission through its official email (ncc@ncc.gov.ng) while 366 of the complaints were transmitted to the Commission through its social media handles on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and the specially-dedicated Twitter handle for consumer issues (@ConsumersNCC).
Also, 19 complaints were also referred to the Commission during the period through the Twitter account of Honourable Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr. Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami.
Commenting on the report, the Executive Vice Chairman (EVC) of NCC, Prof, Umar Danbatta said: “The Commission is pleased to find that consumers are increasingly accessing the numerous complaint channels instituted by the Commission to resolve second level complaints brought to its attention.”
He stressed that the NCC has emplaced all the channels to enable consumers to escalate to the Commission complaints earlier reported to their service providers that may not have been addressed promptly and/or satisfactorily.
“It is important to note that Commission’s actions in this regard is in congruence with NCC’s mandate to protect and defend the rights of the consumer, and to give concrete expression to its faith in the consumer as the lifeblood of the telecom sector, and therefore deserving of priority attention as enshrined in the Nigerian Communications Act (NCA) 2003,” Danbatta added.