Handling of requests and user support

In March 2007, a Users Support Division was created within ICP-ANACOM's Communication and Image Directorate. This new functional unit assures the handling of all complaints, information requests, petitions and suggestions on the market received at ICP-ANACOM, thus promoting information and the clarification of electronic communications' and postal services' users, as well as of the general public.

The implementation, in January 2007, of a new software solution to manage the handling of requests, with functions that modernized, simplified and automated procedures, led to an increase in the efficiency and quality of ICP-ANACOM's services in connection with this matter, its management tools, and the mechanisms it uses to get the statistical data that it needs in order to efficiently perform its duties.

During 2007, ICP-ANACOM received 24,745 complaints, 575 information requests, 79 petitions, 16 suggestions and 59 communications of other sort, totalling 25,474 requests. Regarding complaints, the amount stands for an increase of around 43 per cent from 2006, and mainly results from the generalized use of the complaint books, which entered into force on 1 January 2006 (Decree-Law no. 156/2005 of 15 September).

Graph 38. Evolution in the quarterly amount of complaints, per reception medium

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It should be noted that in 2007 the complaint books' sheets received under the terms of the mentioned legal diploma stood for 68 per cent of the total amount of complaints received at this Authority.

Graph 39. Complains per reception medium

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Concerning the sectors being subject to complaints, as in previous years, most complaints focused on the electronic communications sector - both regarding complaints directly sent to ICP-ANACOM (7,646 complaints from a total of 7,984), and the complaint book sheets (10,760 from 16,761). In the postal sector, about 97 per cent of complaints corresponded to complaint book sheets.

Graph 40. Complaints by sector

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Regarding electronic communications, the VoIP service motivated the highest amount of complaints per each 1,000 customers - albeit its small representation on overall complaints in this service - immediately followed by the Internet access service, FTS and the cable TV distribution service. However, almost half of the complaints received within the scope of the FTS were caused by an exceptional situation of delay in the deactivation of pre-selection, which happened particularly during the second semester of 2007 and which received intervention by ICP-ANACOM (see Table 13).

Source: ICP-ANACOM

Regarding complaints within the electronic communications sector, complaint book sheets focused on issues related to equipment, attendance / technical assistance to the customer and invoicing, which are typically associated to the users' presence at the establishments of the corresponding service providers. Otherwise, in the context of the complaints directly sent to this Authority, the leading issue was pre-selection, due to the mentioned situation regarding the delay in the deactivation of this feature. Also in the scope of the complaints directly sent to this Authority, the high amount of complaints concerning invoicing (particularly regarding mistakes on the invoices), contracts (especially concerning contract changes) and technical assistance stand out.

Source: ICP-ANACOM

In this context, it may be concluded that consumption issues stood for about half of the overall amount of complaints sent to ICP-ANACOM, even if this Authority lacks the sectoral powers to intervene on these matters.

In general, and regarding the complaints that were sent by electronic communications services' users, this Authority took the following stand:

• It properly informed the interested party, specially concerning its powers and the reaction means it holds;
  
  
• It identified the situations where it was necessary to intervene at the regulatory or supervisory levels; and
  
  
• It assured the production and dissemination of statistical indicators.

Regarding the postal sector, the largest number of complaints focused on the correspondence service. While on complaints directly sent to ICP-ANACOM, most complaints related to delivery delays, correspondence gone astray or wrongful mail return, for the complaint book sheets the vast majority of complaints was connected to customer attendance services.

Graph 41. Postal sector complaints, per service

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Thus, and although a great part of the requests concerning postal services, due to their content, did not fall under this Authority's scope of intervention, their analysis enabled, in one hand, a growing collection of information that is useful to sectoral regulation, and, on the other hand, to detect the non-fulfilment of the obligations established on sector rules (legislation and regulatory measures).

In the scope of handling complaints, regular contacts were also established with the Consumer's Directorate-General, in order to coordinate and maximize the work developed by each entity on their corresponding sectoral fields.

Also in this context, it should be noted ICP-ANACOM's exclusive sponsorship of the implementation, by Universidade Nova de Lisboa's Instituto Superior de Estatística e Gestão de Informação, in cooperation with Associação Portuguesa para a Qualidade (Portuguese Association for Quality) and Instituto Português da Qualidade (Portuguese Quality Institute), of the study ECSI¹ Portugal 2007 for communications, which results were published already in 2008². Concerning the Communications sector, this year's study includes, besides an overall assessment and aggregated sector results, the fixed telephone service, the Internet access service (namely including mobile broadband access), the paid television distribution service, the mobile telephone service and the postal service.

Regarding the information requests, most of them focused on the electronic communications sector, more specifically concerning contracts, tariff schemes and portability.