Creating Space for Consumer
Rights in the ICT Sector
Celine AWUOR
Consumer Information NetworkKenya
PRESENTED AT THE STAKEHOLDERS FORUM
ON QUALITY OF SERVICE AND CONSUMER
EXPERIENCE
LAICO REGENCY HOTEL 23.11.2015
About CIN
 A national consumer organisation registered in
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Kenya
Objective: protecting consumer rights and
promoting consumer responsibilities
Mission: empower consumers through education,
advocacy and research on consumer concerns
Vision: A society that upholds consumer rights
Areas of work: constructive dialogue with policy
makers, regulators and stakeholders to realise CP
in areas of trade, health, financial services,
environment, sustainable consumption among
others.
CIN is a full member of Consumers International
Consumer Rights in the ICT Sector
(COMESA Guidelines)
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Legal Basis for Protection;
Responsive Institutional Framework;
Freedom of Choice;
Transparency and Disclosure;
High Quality of Service;
Accurate and Comprehensible Billing;
Channels for Redress;
Non-Discrimination;
Fair and Responsible Marketing;
Fair and Reasonable Treatment;
Personal Privacy and Security;
Health and Safety;
Representation and Voice; and
Access to Information.
Consumer responsibilities
 Payment of bills for services;
 Proper use of products and services;
 Genuine claim;
 Environmental protection;
 Respect contractual obligations in customer service
agreements;
 Respect the privacy of other users.
Role of consumer associations
 Advocacy and lobbying for effective regulatory
environment to support consumers' realisation of their
rights
 Call on industry to be responsive to consumer needs
 Consumer representation
 Consumer education and awareness
 Campaigns on consumer concerns, e.g.:
-WCRD 2014: “Fix our phone rights”
-Proposals for updating the UNGCP to address
consumer issues in the digital age
-Through CI, lobby global and regional community
(ITU, ISO, OECD, COMESA) on CP in the
digital arena
Consumer expectations from other stakeholders
 Regulators have a role of creating an enabling
environment for consumers to exercise their rights in
ICT sector.
 To ensure that consumer rights are upheld/ realised
 By ensuring that transparency in contract
negotiations and contents
 Engage consumers in policy and decision making,
support consumer organisations to enable them
provide feedback through credible research,
undertake consumer education programmes
Mobile sector
 Provide consumers with access to an affordable, reliable service:
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consistent and of a high quality without drop outs in service.
Provide consumers with fair contracts explained in clear, complete and
accessible language: to enable consumers exercise their right to make
informed choices.
Provide consumers with fair and transparent billing: to ensure fairness
and transparency in bills, and protection from billing fraud.
Provide consumers with security and power over their own
information: Telecoms providers and regulators must protect the
personal data that consumers give up in order to use mobile services.
Consumers must be able to set the terms of how this data is used.
Listen and respond to consumer complaints: Telecom providers should
have effective complaints systems and if consumers are not satisfied
there should be redress mechanisms to ensure a fair outcome. There
should be provisions to penalise providers for abusive and unjust
business practices
Internet (revision of UNGCP)
 Address consumers’ loss of control over their personal
information online, including the preventative measure of
limiting the
information that is collected about consumers to begin with, as
well as treatment of security and remedies against the loss of
personal information.
 Promote public access to codes, standards and compliance
documentation, as well as safety information, over the Internet.
 Promote the creation, dissemination and preservation of content
in diverse languages and accessible formats.
 Promote affordable access to the Internet, and require
governments and businesses to uphold the principles of network
neutrality.
 Ensure that consumers retain access to their own data in formats
that they can use, through the use of open standards.
Conclusion
 All stakeholders must play their role to ensure that consumers
are both informed and protected.
 An informed consumer is aware of his/her rights and can
assert them. He/she is better equipped to assess the available
choices and make informed decisions in the market hence
promoting competition among service providers.
 The consumer is further protected when regulators and
legislators ensure that there is an enabling environment for
industry to operate and cater to consumer needs by removing
anti-competitive practices in the industry.
 For the consumer to be both informed and protected, certain
consumer protection instruments are hence necessary such as
legislations and setting of minimum standards specifying
requirements that address consumer needs in the market.
Thank you.
celine@consumerupdate.org
admin@consumerupdate.org