CONSUMERS of goods and services in the Postal, Broadcasting and Electronic Communications Industries in the country have been assured of maximum protection for their rights to ensure they get quality services at reasonable prices.
Opening a one-day joint meeting of Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority (TCRA) Board and TCRA-Consumer Consultative Council (CCC) at Bagamoyo in Coast Region over the weekend, the TCRA Board Chairman Ambassador Richard Mariki said TCRA and CCC were together entrusted with a common responsibility that clients were not milked of their earnings by some super profit minded operators in the fast growing telecommunications sector.
“Both TCRA and CCC have the mandate to formulate strategies, which would ensure consumers of products and services in the telecommunications sector are protected from hiked prices and are well informed on their rights and obligations,” said the Board Chairman.
He said the national communications regulator TCRA and CCC are faced with challenges of frequent fast technological changes and introduction of new services in the communications sector
Participants to the meeting raised concern over some operators cheating customers by claiming to offer free services to them, citing the example, alleged free calls to ‘tigo’ customers during mid-night hours, while in real sense the operators know that they don’t have the capacity to accommodate all customers at a single time, or the alleged free call services or reduced prices do not exist at all.
The participants to the TCRA and CCC joint meeting said some unscrupulous operators take advantage of the consumers’ ignorance by issuing inaccurate and incontestable bills, false and misleading advertisements published through newspapers, radios, televisions and other forms of media.
They named other vices practiced by some operators as intrusion into customers privacy and confidentiality, unclear and incomplete information on rates, tariffs, terms, and conditions for available and proposed products, poor service quality and poor network coverage and unreliable services.
Ambassador Mariki said apart from protecting interests of customers and ensuring availability of the regulated services to all Tanzanians without any form of discrimination both TCRA and CCC would always promote effective competition and economic efficiency and ensure that there is a level playing field to all operators.
Speaking during the event the TCRA-CCC Chairman Rajabu Yusufu said the CCC
has held several customer empowerment and public education meetings in regions to educate the consumers on their rights and obligations and how to file complaints incase they don’t get or they get poor quality services from the service providers.
“While protecting the rights of consumers of the regulated communication goods and services, our mission is also focused on enhancing better business relations through effective representation of communication consumers and dialogue between policy makers, services providers and consumers on matters of mutual interest to consumers.” Said the CCC Chief.
The joint meeting which attracted participants from both Mainland and Zanzibar was also attended by the TCRA Director General Professor John Nkoma.