Consumer Rights

1
Consumer Rights Redressal in the
Telecom Sector

• Shobha Iyer
• Coordinator
• Citizen, consumer and Civic Action Group
• December 20, 2004 Chennai

2
Contents

• Introduction
• Plaguing Consumer Issues
• Avenues for Redressal
• Dispute Resolution
• Improving Dispute Resolution

3
Introduction

• Service delivery mechanisms present the greatest
  challenges to consumer rights.
• Consumer Rights
• Right to Information
• Choice
• Representation
• Redressal

4
Plaguing consumer issues

• Pathetic Response Time
• Billing
• Service charges
• Quality of Service
• Service provider changed without consent
• Privacy
• Number Portability

5
Avenues for redressal

• TRAI
• Protect the interests of consumers of
  the Telecom Sector
• Consultation Process / Consumer Advocacy
  Groups-Core Advisory Group
• TDSAT
• Disputes that cover a group of consumers
• C P A
• For individual consumers
• Internal systems to handle disputes
• BSNL/MTNL
• Private Telcos
• Ombudsman

6
Dispute Resolution

• TRAI
• No individual consumer disputes
• TDSAT
• Groups of consumers with similar
  disputes-rare
• CPA
• Lengthy Process
• Judgments not always in favour of consumers
  
• Internal Systems
• Poor mechanisms
• The best times or the worst times ?

7
Improving Dispute Resolution

• Regulators to enforce codes/laws
• penalise violations
• Common Charter for service providers
• Best Practices Norms
• Terms Conditions between service providers and
  consumers to be clear
• Educating consumers
• CAGs representation in resolving disputes
• Stakeholder Participation

8

• Thank You