FTC launches code to protect mobile phone customers

By Sheria Brathwaite

The Fair Trading Commission (FTC) has launched a mobile telecommunications code to ensure that service providers Flow and Digicel operate within the parameters of the Consumer Protection Act. 

During a ceremony to launch the Mobile Telecommunications Code 2023 at the FTC headquarters in Green Hill, St Michael on Friday, chairman Tammy Bryan said the code was developed to safeguard and protect the interests of consumers. It has five main objectives.

“The code was developed by the commission in response to a combination of factors including, most significantly, an increased number of consumer complaints and information derived from a survey administered by the commission  between 2013 and 2015 the commission received 24 telecommunication complaints and queries. That number increased between 2016 and 2019 rising to in excess of 86 complaints and queries,” she said. “Some of the issues raised related to advertisements, contract terms, data usage and high charges. These grievances highlighted the urgent need for a well thought out solution that could protect consumers from unfair trading practices while simultaneously promoting the service providers adherence to the Consumer Protection Act.”

The results of the survey conducted by the commission in 2019 also revealed consumer dissatisfaction in the mobile sector. Consumers expressed concerns that their rights were not adequately protected and that there was a lack of accountability on the part of the providers.

“The results of the survey were shared with each service provider and ultimately supported the development and implementation of the code that we’re launching today. The board of the Fair Trading Commission takes consumer protection matters very seriously and wants to carefully monitor the development of the code and other emerging consumer protection issues as a result,” said Bryan.

The Mobile Telecommunications Code 2023 is a voluntary system that was created in collaboration with Flow, Digicel, the Barbados National Standards Institution and other stakeholders. It is intended to make it easier for individual consumers to understand the information in their mobile telecommunications contracts; establish consumer friendly business practices and increase stakeholder confidence in the mobile telecommunications industry; and create procedures governing consumer interactions including advertisements and representation of services, complaint handling and billing.

The code also seeks to increase compliance with the Consumer Protection Act and other consumer legislation in Barbados and to provide guidelines for self-regulation within the industry.

Bryan added that the new system would ensure consumers are better informed about the service they were being provided, adding that it would be introduced in a phased approach with the final phase being rolled out in April 2024.

She said that consumers would receive notifications for things such as data limits, a summary of important information with every new plan and a standard period of time to accept an advertised plan or differ.

“Furthermore, the code provides clear guidance on dispute resolution including tools that consumers can use to voice their concerns and seek redress,” Bryan said.

Minister of Energy and Business Development Senator Lisa Cummins said the development of this code was a significant landmark.

“The importance of having a code such as this, where the two service providers have come together in a collaborative approach, along with those whose mandate rests with consumer protection, is critical for a country like Barbados. [It is] a mechanism in place that allows for us to have promotion on the one hand, by the service providers and simultaneously consumer protection,” she said. “I want to suggest that it is this kind of collaboration among service providers and the consumer protection agencies, including those that fall under my ministry that perhaps can be a landmark across the broader community in a range of areas to ensure that consumers are at all times central to the decision making and that there are mechanisms that allow for consumer redress.”

sheriabrathwaite@barbadostody.bb