Source: Ben LARYEA
The Consumer Protection Agency (CPA) says the current services of the various telcos in the country is very poor and getting worse and have therefore called on the Ministry of Communications and National Communication Authority (NCA) to intensify its checks and monitoring of the companies.
According to CPA, the telcos have engaged in clandestine and illegal activities and services such as high cost of data, unsolicited promotions and adverts among others without the consent of customers and have described the gesture as very worrying and disturbing.
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of CPA, Mr. Kofi Kapito told a cross section of the media in Accra, saying with the cutting edge technology in the telecommunication space the telcos should performed better and live up to the expectation of the public in service delivery.
According to him, the Agency have received numerous complaints from customers of telcos of their poor network services and have engaged the relevant players in the telecom value chain challenging them to live up to the task, adding that they have fallen on deaf ears.
Mr. Kapito said the Agency is aware of some telcos as well as some providers in the industry not able to use or max-up the spectrum assigned to them while other telcos have maxed up their spectrum and needs more spectrum for them to provide quality service to customers.
“The CPA in this regard is challenging the communication ministry and other stakeholders in the sector to take immediate steps as to how measures will be put in place to make it possible for the telcos that need more spectrum.
The Agency disclosed that a mother lost the daughter as a result of unsolicited promotions and adverts saying that she was not interested by these messages, only to realise that it was the daughter who sent a text message in an emergency.
“Numerous complaints have come to our notice that the Controller and Accountant General have given information of government workers to third parties about, pay-day loans and in the event start worrying them with household equipments being sold on credit or hire purchase”, he said, and pointed out that traders cannot engage their trading activities with payroll workers without their consent.
According to CPA, such transactions are illegal and for any institution to give out workers’ information to other body for a particular purpose and explained that such move must not be tolerated and be condemned as such.
“The CPA is however calling on the NCA to take a drastic action against the betting companies under the supervision of the National Lottery Authority (NLA) on their unsolicited messages, adding that the said messages create discomfort and anxiety among customers,” he stated.
“If concerns of customers are not addressed, CPA will not hesitate to call on Ghanaians to switch off their phones in protest and also sign a petition and embark on a boycott on the services of telcos”, he charged.
