Icasa – the Independent Communications Authority of SA – has announced its intention to apply for exemption from certain key aspects of the Consumer Protection Act (CPA), saying that as the telecommunications industry regulator, it is better placed to deal with those issues.
Icasa wants to retain jurisdiction over charging and billing matters in the industry, as well as complaints handling and resolution of matters it regulates.
It also proposes that the telecommunications industry be exempt from the section pertaining to prepaid vouchers being redeemable for up to three years, arguing that for consumers to be able to “hold on to” a number for that long “will have an adverse impact on the efficient and effective allocation of numbers, resulting in their early depletion”.
“An unintended consequence of Section 63 of the CPA is that electronic communications service licensees would be restricted from recycling inactive prepaid SIM cards that have credit, with the result that Icasa may run out of numbers earlier than anticipated,” Icasa said.
Questioned on this, Icasa councillor Fungai Sibanda told Consumer Watch: “The question of what happens to the credit in the SIM card is a consumer matter that the CPA should address in favour of consumers.
“Consumers must be protected with respect to unused credit, while at the same time allowing inactive numbers to be recycled.”
I continue to receive emails from subscribers complaining about prepaid data bundles expiring after 60 days, despite the CPA being in effect.
Ian Wright wrote that he bought prepaid data bundles for his home PC and that, before the CPA came into effect, the data had to be used within 60 days. Vodacom has since advised him that the time limit still applies.
“I was under the impression that prepaid vouchers are legitimate for at least three years under the new act,” Wright said.
Asked to respond, Vodacom said that in line with the provisions of the act, Vodacom prepaid vouchers were now valid for three years.
“But when customers purchase data bundles, funds are deducted from their airtime in return for access to data bundles.
‘‘They are deemed to have exchanged the value of their prepaid airtime for access to data bundles.”
Pressed to clarify further, the spokesman added: “There’s a difference between a voucher and a product bought by that voucher. The three-year expiry rule refers to vouchers and not to products purchased by vouchers.
“For instance, a prepaid airtime voucher can be used to purchase a variety of mobile services like making voice calls, ringtones and data bundles.
“There is no prescription on the expiry of products bought, using a prepaid airtime voucher.”
However, National Consumer Commissioner Mamodupi Mohlala disagrees.
“Our reading of Section 63 of the act is that the value represented by the voucher does not expire until the date on which its full value has been redeemed in exchange for goods and services or future access to service, or three years after the date on which it was issued, whichever happens earliest.
“This includes vouchers for data bundles.
“The commission will engage the network providers, with regard to the issue of premature expiry of data bundles,” she said.
Good to hear.
I asked Cell C and MTN what their policies were regarding the expiry of prepaid airtime and data.
Cell responded: “Icasa has started preparing for an exemption from certain sections of the Consumer Protection Act, including Section 63 and 64, which covers prepaid certificates, credit, vouchers and services.
“Cell C will be able to comment once the outcome of the exemption process has been determined.”
But, in the meantime, what is Cell C’s position on the expiry of prepaid airtime and data?
No response on that yet.
MTN hasn’t got back to me. Its website states: “When a customer tops up with a PayasyouGo airtime voucher value more than R25, this airtime will never expire.”
But if the top-up is between R10 and R25, “then value left over after 30 days from top-up date will expire”, and if the top-up spend is R5 or R10, value left over after 20 days from top-up date will expire.
Clearly, that’s not in keeping with Section 63 of the act.
I was unable to find information about the expiry of data bundles.
There are two issues here – the rapid recycling of prepaid numbers, and the consumer’s right not to lose the right to redeem the value of prepaid airtime or data within three years of buying.
Icasa does not appear to be in support of denying consumers the right to benefit from their prepaid purchases within the three-year period.
“The authority is of the view that consumers must be protected with respect to unused credit, while at the same time allowing inactive numbers to be recycled,” Sibanda said.
To my mind, the mechanics of that dilemma should have been sorted out long before April 1 when the act came into force.
It seems the cellphone industry has been somewhat slow to grasp the intention of the act in other respects as well.
Mohlala told Consumer Watch that the commission was analysing cellphone contracts and hadn’t yet found one which fully complied with the act.
Asked to give examples, she said the consumer’s right to cancel their contract by giving 20 days’ notice was not properly “factored into” some contracts, nor was there provision for quick resolution of consumer complaints.
“What’s especially alarming is the fact that people can spend up to R500 on airtime, speaking to a series of call-centre operators in a bid to get help with a problem,” Mohlala said.
“That’s an untenable situation – these companies need to put effective internal complaints handling mechanisms in place.”
Hear! hear!
*Please be patient…
A few months back, I was impressed to learn that the National Consumer Commission had committed to a six-week turnaround time for dealing with consumer complaints.
Turns out that timeframe refers to acknowledging receipt of a consumer’s complaint – actually resolving it can take up to six months.
But emergency cases – such as a dispute with an undertaker over a funeral that’s about to take place – are prioritised for immediate handling, said commissioner Mamodupi Mohlala.
To lodge a complaint about a supplier, call the Commission at 0860 266 786, or fax 0861 515259 or e-mail [email protected]. – Pretoria News