Clarification on number of complaints concerning CTT in 2018

On 13 February 2019, in line with previous years, ANACOM reported information on registered complaints concerning the communications sector:

a) complaints presented in complaint books;

b) complaints sent directly to ANACOM by users ("direct complaints").

According to this information (which does not include information requests classified as such by users in electronic complaint books), complaints about the postal sector increased by 43.3% in 2018, rising from 16 thousand in 2017 to 22.9 thousand in 2018 (an additional 6.9 thousand complaints).

Considering only complaints about the postal sector presented by users in complaint books (22.7 thousand complaints in 2018, increasing 43.9% from the 15.8 thousand complaints observed in 2017), and as reported by ANACOM:

a) the number of complaints about Grupo CTT increased by 35.8% versus 2017 (rising from 14.6 thousand complaints to 19.9 thousand complaints);

b) complaints about Grupo CTT represented 87.4% of all postal sector complaints in 2018, when in 2017 they accounted for 92.6% (i.e., while there was an overall increase in complaints, in relative terms, there were larger increases in the number of complaints about other postal service providers).

On 13 February, CTT issued a statement entitled “Reclamações de Serviços Postais nos CTT diminuem 7% em 2018” (CTT Postal Service Complaints Drop 7% in 2018). In this statement, CTT reported that "total complaints about postal services received by CTT fell by 7% in 2018 compared to 2017", adding that "the data includes all companies of Grupo CTT (Post and Parcels) analysed by ANACOM, as registered by CTT through all complaint channels", which, in addition to complaints presented in complaint books, also include complaints received by CTT by means of "email, letter, call centre, physical customer presence at CTT Outlets, ...".

ANACOM requested clarification from CTT as to the information which supports this statement. From information received on 18 February, ANACOM was able to ascertain that the information disclosed by CTT had been misleading. In the above statement of 13 February, both the title "CTT Postal Service Complaints Drop 7% in 2018" and the text, stating that "total complaints about postal services received by CTT fell by 7% in 2018 compared to 2017", leads to the conclusion that this reduction was in relation to complaints only, when, in fact, the data corresponds to the sum of complaints and information requests about postal services received by Grupo CTT.

These two categories, which in combination have seen a reduction of 7% in 2018 compared to 2017, cannot and should not be confused, since they are clearly and completely different in nature¹. Taken separately, it is clearly observed that, in its internal system, Grupo CTT recorded a 9% increase in the number of complaints received (and a 40% reduction in information requests) (Table 1).

Source: Data reported by CTT to ANACOM on complaints about postal services received by the companies CTT - Correios de Portugal, CTT Expresso, CTT Contacto e Transporta.

* CTT reported that there were about one thousand requests received in 2018 which are still being processed (most related to the international service and so dependent on responses from third parties).

It is therefore concluded that there was an increase in the volume of complaints about postal services received by Grupo CTT in 2018, both in the case of complaints registered in Physical and Electronic Complaint Books (19,900 in 2018 compared to 14,600 in 2017, corresponding to an increase of 35.8%), as well as those which Grupo CTT classifies as complaints in its internal system and which it received via different channels (196 thousand complaints in 2018 compared to 180 thousand in 2017, which corresponds to a 9% increase).

The law guarantees that complaints are effectively answered within legal time limits and are reported to the regulatory authority, but only when consumers presented their complaints through Complaint Books (physical and electronic). However, CTT’s figures make it clear that consumers are submitting a large number of their complaints through other channels provided by the company, either upon the consumer's own initiative or upon the company's advice. These other channels do not offer the same type of guarantees. As such, in 2018, Grupo CTT received 19,900 complaints in official Complaint Books, out of a total of 196,000 complaints received (including those received through its own channels).

As regards the information reported by CTT in its 13 February statement (information that they would send to ANACOM on the complaints and information requests received in 2018 relating to the universal postal service, and received by ANACOM on the same day of 13 February), it is ascertained that the number of complaints received, both through Complaint Books and through other channels, and already classified by CTT as complaints increased by 2.4% in 2018 compared to 2017, rising from 78,736 complaints in 2017 to 80,597 complaints in 2018 (Table 2). Although consumers recorded 15,000 complaints concerning the universal postal service in Complaint Books, CTT only considered 11,300 as complaints (i.e. 75% of the total, compared to 82% in 2016 and 80% in 2017).

Source: Data reported by CTT to ANACOM.

It should be noted that, according to the Lusa News Agency, CTT released new data today (19 February), so that, not rectifying the statement released on 13 February, CTT now reports that the 7% reduction refers to the total of complaints and information requests.