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TCRA DODOSO LA KUKUSANYA MAONI KUHUSU KUANDAA KANUNI NDOGO ZA VIFURUSHI, OFA NA PROMOSHENI KATIKA HUDUMA ZA MAWASILIANO YA SIMU
1.0INTRODUCTION
TCRA DODOSO LA KUKUSANYA MAONI KUHUSU KUANDAA KANUNI NDOGO ZA VIFURUSHI, OFA NA PROMOSHENI KATIKA HUDUMA ZA MAWASILIANO YA SIMU The Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority (TCRA) is a quasi-independent Government body,established under the Tanzania Communications Regulatory Act No.12 of 2003,responsible for regulating the electronic and postal Communications in the United Republic of Tanzania.Recently there has been increasedconcernsfrom consumersregarding howtelecommunication bundled services are structured and provided to end-users. Another concern is on the treatment of bundled services versuspromotion and special offers by services providers.
TCRAhasidentified issues that need to be addressed to improve consumer experience, induce consumption of telecommunications services, improve assurance of revenue derived from the consumption, promote transparency in the billing, and ensure value for money for the services subscribed.
This consultation aims to improveregulatory framework for the provision of telecommunications services offered asabundle,througha public consultation process.A telecommunications bundle means combined services such as voiceminutes, data, and Short Message Services (SMS) sold as a single package. These bundles are offered in two ways namely: as a Pure Bundle that consumers can purchase only a bundle product or mixed bundle that offers a choice to consumers to purchase either an entire bundle at (usually) a discounted price or purchase separate services of the bundle. Bundlingas a strategy is used by all service providers to generatemore revenue,retaining or increasing market sharesand improve customer experience. Bundles when offered at a discounted price, enhance consumer welfare byincreaseservice usage. Although the economic theory of bundling creates value to service providers, consumers and the economy in general, these gains are easily offset if bundles go practically unmonitored. In the context of competition law, bundling of services without control may cause deterioration of Quality of Service, and incentivize anti-competitive behaviour which includes service offerings below the cost of production. This may havea detrimental effect on industry sustainability.
Key issues to be addressed under the proposed guidelines for bundles, promotion and special offers, hence the basis for this stakeholders engagement are as follows:-a)Automatic renewals of one-time bundles.b)Subscription without consumer consent, including lack of consent and retention of customer informationc)Establishtransparency on data consumption when using bundles.d)Concerns of over-changing of consumersprompted by rapid depletion of data bundles.e)Misleading advertisementofservicesand unclear terms and conditions.f)Bill shock due to automatic migration to pay-as-you-go tariff without consumer consentonce units in a bundle deplete.g)Consumer awareness on bundled productsh)Forfeiture of unutilized units after expiryof bundle duration i)Introducingmetrics for monitoring of bundlesj)Concerns of cross-subsidization by selling in-bundle data tariff below cost.
TCRA considers theabove asissues of substance that requireimmediate regulatory intervention. TCRA invites comments from the general public, consumer advocacy groups, and other stakeholders regarding the treatment of telecommunications service bundles. These comments will provide stakeholderviews on bundled products and will be reviewed inestablishinga comprehensive regulatory oversight and robust monitoring system for the provision of bundled telecommunications services.
1.3TCRA would like to have your views and comments to the following address:
Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority (TCRA),
Mawasiliano Towers,
20 Sam Nujoma Road,
P.O Box 474,14414 DAR ES SALAAM
Fax:+255222412009/+255222412010
E-Mailaddress:[email protected]
Also,TCRA accepts responses in formats other than email including print, or Sign Language Video in suitable formats such as DVD, or .wmv files.
TCRA reserves the right to publish or make available to the general public any of the received responses unless marked confidential.
2.0 ISSUES UNDER CONSULTATION:
2.1 Duration of promotion, offers and bundledservices
The Authority would like to get stakeholder opinions ontheshortest and longest time of bundles (duration) as well as minimum and maximum size of bundles (quantity of units) linked to the validity of the bundles, as it will help toset the minimum validity/expiry period of bundles.i.What do you propose asthe shortest time (duration) andsizeof bundles?ii.What do you propose asthe longest time (duration)and sizeof bundles? You may provide a rangefor (i) and (ii).
2.2Billing issues related to over-charging, subscription to service that is not delivered,or abrupt depletion of bundle units.
Overcharging is one of thefrequently receivedcomplaints.There are instances when customers have complained about being charged and not being provided withthe expected amount of service purchasedor the subscribed bundle depleted abruptly and not related to the actual consumption made. (i)Should therebe a compensation scheme for consumers that havebeen overcharged, subject to verification?(ii)If, yes whatshould be the structure of the scheme?(iii)What approach to be used to verify charging and consumption of units in a bundle? (iv)What mechanism should be inplace to address overcharging and unexpected depletion of bundles (especially data service)
2.3 Subscription without consumer consent
To minimize incidences in which consumers are subscribed to bundled services without their consent, TCRA intends to impose uniformity and standards that services providers will have to adhere to when subscribing and unsubscribing consumers. Someoperators use pop messages to communicate subscriptionor un-subscription information and at times, following automatic subscription of service the burden of unsubscribing is put on the consumer.(i)What structure should the exchange of information be that will guarantee transparency, ease of burden for consumers and retention of proof for a subscription?(ii)What services should the consumer continue to receivefrom a Service Provider ifthe subscribed bundle has finished and the consumer has
4not subscribed to additional services? Such as emergency access and any other services.
2.4 Uniformity in accessing bundled products
Consumers access services of different networks using different subscription numbers and methods. Although this introduces adimension of differentiation of the product, it increasingly confusesconsumers and raise switching costs when consumers considermovingfrom one network to the other by either changing the SIM Card or using Mobile Number Portability services.(i)Should there be a uniform number to access information relating to bundle and other services that are similar across platforms?(ii)Is there a need of adopting uniform name across all service providers for bundles which does not expire (e.g. “Non-expiry bundles”).
2.5 Metrics to be used to monitor bundled products.
To ensure quality services are provided to consumersand accurately verified, TCRA proposestheestablishment of metrics which will be the parameters to measure billing accuracy.What do you propose as measurement parameters and allowable/tolerable variance duringverification of actual consumption vs. purchased/subscribedunits,against whichregulatory action can be taken?
2.6 Clarity of Terms and Conditions for bundled servicesThere are concerns regarding presence of unclear terms and conditions of bundles, promotion andspecial offers, includingsubscribers not fully understand the contents of their bundlesand data speeds normally decrease as bundle nears depletion.(i)Do you fully read and understand theterms and conditions of a bundle before purchase? (ii)Are thetermsandconditions clear and do they provide all information needed to make a rational decision?(for service providers, provide a sample Terms and Conditions)(iii)What approach can be adopted to ensure that consumers read and agree to terms and conditions of the bundles before subscription?(iv)Please write terms and conditions in the bundle, promotion and special offers which you think areunclear and confusing and should be removed/revised immediately?
5(v)Do service providers provide information regarding data speedsin thebundle consumptioninformation?2.7 Number of bundles and options available to consumersCurrently, there is a total of about 754 bundles in the market offered by all service providers, the lowest number of bundles per operator is24 bundles while the highest is294 bundles classified into daily, weekly, monthly, 90 days or 180 days bundles. While this information may conveniently be provided to users of smartphones by use of Graphic User Interface(GUI)on an Application, it is inconvenient when this message is presented in text format especially for consumers with featured mobile phones.(i)Should there be a limit to thenumber of bundles that can be easily accessed, and explored by the user before decidingto subscribe?(ii)How many bundles do you propose perservice provider?(iii)How long should a bundle stay in the market without beingmodified(adjust price or quantity of units in a bundle)?(iv)What is the best method of presenting bundle tariff and associated Terms and Condition information to consumers?2.8 Frequency of Promotions, special offers and bundling tariff changesThe Authority intends to specify thenumber of Promotions, special offers and bundles changes so that consumers are not confused and end up choosing what they did not intend.(i)What are your views aboutthe appropriate number of promotion and special offers in the market?(ii)What are your views regarding thefrequency of promotionsand special offers in the market?2.9 Knowledge on bundle consumptionConsumers are empowered through the provision of education on the services and products offered; including usage terms and conditions. (i)What are your views on the provision of notification at no charge for post-paid and pre-paid users to be based on percentage depletion or bundle units remaining? That is consumers be notified at intervals of 90% and 100% (percentage depletion) or that only informed of the remaining resources (voice, SMS, data) remaining but be notified at least two times before 100% usage so that they have enough time to make and acton their choice.
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62.10Expiry of bundlesand Rollover of unused bundlesNon-rolloverof data bundles after the expiry of bundle validity time (duration) is an area complained about by many;it is proposedto introduce rolloverof unused data.(i)What will bethe impact of sucha decision onthe pricing and consumption of the telecommunication services?(ii)What are your views on having bundles that do not expire?(iii)What are your proposals, including Terms and Conditions for rolling over of data? (iv)What are your proposals, including Terms and Conditions for transfer of data from one user to the other in the same network? 2.11Provision of Fair Usage Policy to empower consumer to have necessary information to manage and monitor usageRegardingthe provision of fair usage policy in respect of promotions, offers and bundles,Standard Fair Usage Policy is required to ensure that consumers remain empowered and are able to make informed decisions.(i)What should be a Standard Fair Usage Policy concerningthe use of bundles?(ii)What should be a composition of the Standard Fair Usage Policy?
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Issued by:
Director General,Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority (TCRA)
,Mawasiliano Towers,20 Sam Nujoma Road,
P.O Box 474,14414 DAR ES SALAAM
Fax:+255222412009/+255222412010
E-Mailaddress:[email protected]
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