National Communications Authority, Consumer Watch, Page 1
Communications For Development Communications For Development
A National Communications Authority Publication for Consumer Information
Edition 4
ARE YOU TIRED OF RECEIVING UEC’s?
e National Communications Authority
(NCA) in 2013 developed guidelines to
manage the sending of Unsolicited Electronic
Communications (UEC) by service providers.
Some of the actions in the guidelines include:
i. Availability of a “START” and STOP”
option for activation and de-activation of a
short code for received and sent messages.
ii. Invitational messages should be free.
iii. Messages sent to a consumer who has given
his/her consent must allow an “opt out”
option from receiving future messages.
iv. e “opt out” should be to the same short
code the message came from.
v. MNO should have Short code portals for
consumers to manage subscriptions.
vi. Unsolicited Electronic Communication/
unwanted messages should not be sent
more than once a day and only three (3)
times in a month
vii. Broadcast should be only on weekdays and
between the hours of 8.00 a.m. to 7.00 p.m.
daily.
viii. Consumers who do not want to receive
a particular or all forms of UEC’s can call
their service provider and ask to be put on
a list for people who do not want to receive
UECs.
e Authority as part of its consumer
awareness creation has also started monthly
consumer outreach programs to educate
consumers on their rights and responsibilities
regarding UECs.
To protect yourself from receiving unwanted
messages, consumers are advised to:
i. Be careful about giving out their mobile
phone numbers or any other personal
information.
ii. Read through Terms and Conditions of
promotions before subscribing.
iii. Find out the policy of a website before
giving out any information as some websites
also solicit for numbers for commercial
purposes.
iv. Always report any issue on UEC’s to your
service provider and if not satised with the
solution provided, contact NCA.
SAFETY TIPS FOR USING MOBILE PHONES ON THE ROAD
U
sing any form of communication device
on the road could double your risk of
being in a fatal accident. Stay in control to be
safe and alive and protect others around you by
following these simple tips.
For Drivers
1. Make sure your device is within your reach
before you move your vehicle.
2. Adjust and test all your device and receivers
before you set o.
3. Try to place calls only when your vehicle is
not moving or parked safely.
4. Never read while driving, you may run into
another vehicle or knock down a person.
5. Suspend calls that would make you
emotional while driving
6. Texting while driving is a NO! NO!
7. Carefully watch before pulling over to place
or receive a call.
8. Keep volume of device at a minimum level.
9. All video screens should be avoided at the
front area of the vehicle
10. Remember, your life is important so always
keep your eyes on the road.
11. Cyclists and motor cyclists should avoid
picking or making calls whiles riding.
12. It will be better to use an ear piece for a call
rather than a handset.
For Pedesterians
1. Avoid using ear piece as a pedestrian.
2. Do not text or read when walking on or by
the road.
3. Use the appropriate side of the road meant
for pedestrians.
4. Make sure you are o the road before using
any form of device.
Let Us Use Our Communication Devices Safely
, National Communications Authority, Consumer WatchPage 2
Communications For Development
A
s part of eorts to reach telecom consumers
of a wide range, the Authority chose a
particular day to visit consumers from various
walks of life. ese visits were used to interact
with consumers on issues concerning quality of
experience, their patronage of communications
services and products. ose visited also took
the opportunity to voice their concerns and
feelings regarding the quality of service they
receive from the service providers.
is visit came a month aer the NCA
celebrated this year’s World Consumer Rights
Day –WCRD-17 with a roadshow at the Tema
Station in Accra. e Authority again decided
to hit the streets of some parts of Accra to
obtain from consumers rst-hand information
about the services they receive from their
Communications Network Providers.
“Stop these Promos”
is is what Madam Stella Yankah, a Tutor at
the Labone Senior Secondary School in Accra,
had to say when the NCA camera man caught
her attention; “the regulator should ensure
that the MNOs improve their service quality
with regards to their promos. e view that the
promos and lotteries are putting pressure on the
networks’ facilities, is worsening their service
quality”.
Madam Stella Yankah mentioned that the
MNOs hide behind the numerous so called
promotions to deduct credit/airtime from
unsuspecting consumers’ accounts without
performing any activity on their network to
warrant such deductions. “It appears the MNOs
are concentrating on the promotions more
than delivering quality service to us. I don’t
understand why my colleagues will always
complain that when they call my line it rings
and I don’t pick up, when in actual fact the
call does not come through to me at that time;
meanwhile, these promotional text messages
just keep on coming”
She specically, mentioned a promotion
called “MA HIITI” promo as one of the most
ridiculous promos in the telecom sector because
she never believed the operator could redeem its
pledge of giving out an amount of GH¢200,000
as claimed.
“Stop Sending Me Unsolicited
Messages, Calls, Consumer Tells
Operators”
Another consumer we encountered expressed
concern of annoying and frustrating messages.
is particular consumer who introduced
herself as Madam Patience Owusu, urged the
Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) to put
a stop to sending her messages and calls she
does not want or need. ese messages are
called Unsolicited Electronic Communications
(UECs). Madam Owusu expressed her
annoyance with the constant bombarding of
calls and messages from all the MNOs since she
uses all the network. She was especially annoyed
at the times the MNOs send these messages and
calls.
“Most times while I am sleeping or busy
working or doing something important, a
call or UEC would come in, which of course
I would have to attend to, thinking it was an
important call or message only to discover
it’s from the Mobile Network
Operator advertising one product
or the other. is is very annoying
and infuriating. ey should stop
sending me messages, they should
stop calling me, is that too much to
ask?” she queried.
ese messages come at any
time of the day and also at night.
When you are in church, when you
are sleeping and when you are in
business meetings or even at work.
Madam Patience Owusu, who
is a fashion Designer added that
most annoying is the fact that a
particular operator would even use
mobile phone numbers appearing
like normal subscriber ten (10)
digits to call you, prompting you to
leave whatever you are doing and
pick only to discover that it was a
programmed call from the MNO.
“ey should just stop this kind of
thing, it disturbs me a lot” she said.
“Stop the exploitation”
According to Mr. Laryea, the most
annoying part of it all is when
they charge you in addition to
sending messages you do not want in the rst
place. He angrily asked “how can you charge
me for something I did not ask you to send me?
“Haaaah my brother is it fair?”
Continuing, Mr Laryea, advised that “if the
MNOs want to do business let them revert to
doing business in the normal way, where you
rst invite or oer to sell to a person and that
person agrees to buy and then the business
takes place.” “is action by the MNOs amounts
to taking people’s money from them by force
without their consent”.
Meanwhile, when he was alerted that the
messages and calls from the MNOs were meant
to inform the subscribers about new and latest
products which may be of benet to them, he
strongly disagreed and said that if the messages
or calls contain information that relates to the
network services he will have no problem with
that, but not about products and services that
has absolutely nothing to do with the network.
Mr. Laryea, added for example, that he is not a
football fan, yet he keeps on receiving messages
relating to football.
Experiences from Consumers
Mr. Laryea
Madam Patience Owusu
Madam Stella Yankah,
National Communications Authority, Consumer Watch, Page 3
Communications For Development Communications For Development
• Filing a complaint online on the NCA’s
website, www.nca.org.gh, click on consumer
center and then make a Complaint/Enquiry.
• BycallingtheNCAonthe:
o Hot line - 030-7011-419 or
o Toll Free Number - 0800-110-622.
• Byemail(comp[email protected]rg.gh)
• Walk intoany ofNCA’s ocesacrossthe
country, we are in eight regions; Accra,
Bolgatanga, Ho, Koforidua, Kumasi,
Sunyani, Takoradi and Tamale.
I
n Ghana, the National Communications
Authority (NCA) has an online Complaint
Management system which is user friendly. e
system helps the consumer or a member of the
public to submit their complaints and enquiries
for the NCA to investigate and resolve the issue.
One important objective of the NCA was to take
advantage of advances in technology to provide
better service and support for consumers.
e Complaints Management System (CMS)
replaces the Authority’s previous complaint
handling with an easier-to-use portal for ling
of complaints and enquiries and monitoring.
It also has the feature of sending automated
acknowledgements or feedback.
Sta of the Authority use the CMS to assess,
investigate and respond to complaints received
via phone, walk –in, post and through e-mails.
e complaints received via the various channels
are logged into the CMS. e CMS became
operational in 2016 for complainants to lodge
their complaints and make enquiries. Aer a
year, we can condently say that it has enhanced
the Authority’s complaint management.
e CMS has two main sections;
1. e rst section is basically for lodging
complaints and enquiries. It also gives users
the opportunity to provide their details.
2. e second section provides the user with
an option to check and track the status of
their previously lodged complaints with the
NCA by providing their reference numbers.
Here is a snapshot of the home page of the
Complaints Management System.
Users who wish to submit complaints should
note that all complaints should rst be sent to
their service providers. If they are not satised,
then they can forward the issue to the NCA.
Complainants can also contact the Authority if
they are unable to reach customer care centers
of their Service Providers or if there are issues
with Quality of Service and therefore cannot
reach the Service Provider accordingly.
Consumers now have multiple options for ling
their complaint with the Authority:
ALL ABOUT THE NCA COMPLAINTS MANAGEMENTS
SYSTEM FOR TELECOM CONSUMERS
KNOW THE HARMONISED
SHORT CODES FOR ALL
NETWORKS
SERVICES SHORT CODE
Call Centre 100
Credit Recharge 134
Check Balance 124
Verication of SIM
Registration
400
Voice Mail Deposit 108
Voice Mail Retrieval 109
Procedures for Filing a Complaint
, National Communications Authority, Consumer WatchPage 4
Communications For Development
KNOW YOUR TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICE TARIFFS
W
e publish for the information of the general public, the taris for Mobile telephony services as at May, 2017. is is to allow consumers compare
prices and help them make informed decisions.
Table 1: TARIFFS OF MOBILE TELEPHONY OPERATORS (PREPAID) AS AT MAY 2017
(All rates are quoted in Ghana Cedis and the billing rate is per minute)
MTN Tigo Vodafone Airtel Glo Mobile Expresso Industry Average
On-net (Calls made to or from
same network)
0.105 0.132 0.11 0.11 0.11 0.10 0.1104
Other Local Networks 0.13 0.132 0.13 0.12 0.11 0.15 0.1286
UK 1.40 0.354 0.32 0.12 1.60 1.60 0.8990
USA 0.12 0.18 0.16 0.14 0.14 0.21 0.1586
Canada 0.15 0.132 0.16 0.14 0.14 0.21 0.1556
Italy 1.40 0.18 1.5 1.20 1.00 2.00 1.2133
Nigeria 0.96 0.78 0.46 0.54 0.45 0.21 0.5670
South Africa 0.40 0.54 0.96 0.60 0.45 1.27 0.7035
Germany 0.30 0.54 0.46 0.36 0.45 1.60 0.6183
China 0.12 0.18 0.16 0.16 0.14 0.21 0.1620
UAE 0.80 0.78 0.75 0.94 1.00 1.60 0.9783
SMS-On Net 0.045 0.08 0.055 0.04 0.05 0.04 0.0521
SMS-Other Networks 0.055 0.08 0.065 0.05 0.05 0.04 0.0573
Data/MB 0.10 0.14 0.125 0.16 0.03 0.05 0.1008
• LocalcallandSMSratesaredefaultratesofmobilenetworkoperators.
• AlltheinternationaldestinationratesarecallstoMobileNetworks.
• Callstointernationaldestinationsarechargedperminute
Table 2: SMS - IDD TARIFF RATES
SMS-IDD MTN Airtel Tigo Vodafone Glo Mobile Expresso
Industry
Average
US 0.20 0.12 0.35 0.60 0.198 0.0636 0.255
Canada 0.20 0.12 0.35 0.35 0.142 0.0636 0.204
UK 0.20 0.15 0.35 0.45 0.142 0.0636 0.226
Germany 0.20 0.15 0.35 0.60 0.182 0.0636 0.258
Italy 0.20 0.15 0.35 0.60 0.142 0.0636 0.251
Nigeria 0.20 0.15 0.4 0.40 0.182 0.0636 0.233
South Africa 0.20 0.15 0.35 0.45 0.182 0.0636 0.233
China 0.20 0.15 0.4 0.40 0.182 0.0636 0.233
U.A.E. 0.20 0.15 0.35 0.40 0.198 0.0636 0.227
For Further Information,
Contact the Consumer and Corporate Affairs Division, National Communications Authority,
• Accra - P. O. Box CT 1568, Cantonments, Accra, Tel: +233 - (0)302 - 771701
• Bolgatanga - Private Mail Bag, Bolgatanga, Tel: +233 - (0)382 - 021141
• Ho - P. O. Box HP1576, Ho, Tel: +233 - (0)36-2026375/2026339
• Koforidua - Private Mail Bag, Koforidua, Tel: +233 - (0)03420- 28378/ 28380/ 28382
• Kumasi - P.O. Box KS 10768, Kumasi, Tel: + 233(0)3220-20014/ (0)3220-20018/ (0)3220-20019
• Sunyani - P. O. Box SY125, Sunyani, Tel: 233(0)352-027564
• Takoradi - P.O. Box SL 409, Sekondi, Tel: +233 (0)3120-28073/ (0)3120-28049
• Tamale - P.O. Box TL 1590, Tamale, Tel: + 233-(0)37-2028105/ (0)37-0208104
