Complaints against telcos pile up
18 January, 2018
Mobile users' complaints against operators, especially market leader Grameenphone, have piled up with the telecommunication regulator.
The telecom watchdog set up a complaint centre in May 2016 that can be accessed by dialling 2872 from 9:00am to 5:00pm. There is also an email address to which customers can send in their complaints against mobile operators.
Between December 2016 and December last year, the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission received about 3,522 allegations, mostly related to call drops, poor data coverage and bad customer service.
Of the total complaints, about 56 percent (1,973 complaints) were against Grameenphone.
The merged entity of Robi and Airtel together received 825 complaints, said an official of the telecom watchdog.
Banglalink, the third largest operator, received 612 complaints and state-run Teletalk 104.
The BTRC also received 8 complaints against Citycell, which has been out of service since October 2016.
“At different times, telecom services have failed to reach its expected level, although 20 years have elapsed since the launch of the country's first mobile phone,” said BTRC Chairman Shahjahan Mahmood.
To address the situation, the telecom watchdog had also organised a public hearing in November 2016 to learn about the users' grievances on the mobile operators' service quality.
Apart from the BTRC, the Directorate of National Consumer Rights Protection also received a huge number of complaints about “cheating” and false advertisements by the operators.
In the last six months, the consumer rights watchdog received about 600 complaints, said one of its officials.
“But a court order obtained by one of the mobile operators against DNCRP dealing with
such allegations is preventing us from investigating the complaints,” he added.
The DNCRP has realised Tk 23.22 crore as fine from offenders of different sectors since the consumer rights watchdog came into existence in 2009.
The complainants are supposed to receive 25 percent of the fine money, according to the consumer rights protection law.
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