Kenya’s communications regulator says it received a total of 670 complaints from consumers regarding service quality in the fourth quarter ended June this year with telecommunications firms taking up the largest share.
Latest data by the Communications Authority (CA) show that mobile service operators failed to resolve 239 issues raised by consumers accounting for 36% of total complaints, prompting the regulator to intervene.
“Of these, 548 complaints (82%) were successfully resolved, while 122 cases remain under active regulatory follow-up, reflecting the Authority’s commitment to ensuring that consumers receive fair, timely, and effective redress,” said CA.
The consumer complaint report indicates that majority of complaints included 22 data Quality of Service, 35 complaints on delays and failure in service provision, 20 service termination, 13 voice Quality of Service and 14 data service interruptions.
CA says consumers also raised 75 complaints relating to billing and charging of data services, which were associated with perceived service quality and value for money.
Of the total complaints received by the regulator during the quarter 110 were from digital financial services and mobile money, 75 from cybercrime and criminal use of ICT infrastructure while complaints from broadcasting were 42.
As Kenya reports increased usage of digital financial services, CA has warned of emerging risks including SIM swap fraud, digital financial scams and online abuse.
“The increasing integration of mobile numbers with financial services, digital identity systems, e-government platforms and online accounts has elevated the security significance of SIM registration, replacement, and number management processes. This calls for the protection of the integrity of subscriber identity as a key consumer protection priority towards securing access to communications service,” said the authority.
The digital financial services and mobile money complaints were linked to compromised subscriber identities, unauthorized SIM replacement, identity theft, and the misuse of personal information to facilitate fraud.
