ANACOM makes recommendations to communications companies to improve customer satisfaction

The Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown restrictions meant that people were compelled to work from home and that lessons had to be held online. This and the need to maintain social contacts in these circumstances led to high levels of demand for telecommunications services, and as a result of increased use of online commerce, some postal services, especially parcels.

These circumstances led to increased use of communications services, resulting in a significant increase in complaints about the communications sector (electronic and postal). Between 19 March 2020 and 18 March 2021, the number of complaints increased by 37% compared to the same period of the previous year (to a total of 140 thousand complaints).

In view of this increase, ANACOM decided to recommend that companies operating in the sector adopt or strengthen a set of practices with a view to improving relationships with customers.

In the case of electronic communications companies, the recommendations are as follows:

ensure that customer support and technical assistance services have sufficient capacity for response, especially remotely, in terms of connecting services, fault repair and complaint handling, taking into account the increase in demand, recommending, in particular:

(a) allocation of additional resources to customer support and to telephone and online technical assistance services, in order to improve waiting times, ensuring that reasonable waiting times are not exceeded and that unanswered contacts are returned as quickly as possible, depending on the matter in question, without prejudice to the requirements of compliance with Decree-Law no. 134/2009 of 2 June;

(b) provision of full, specific and reasoned responses to all complaints submitted to companies by means other than complaint books, within a period not exceeding 15 working days, with provision of information on the right of the complainant to resort to conflict resolution mechanisms, and how to make contact and access these mechanisms where customers do not agree with the operator’s resolution of the complaint;

(c) the creation of mechanisms that allow companies to identify users with special needs experiencing difficulties in accessing services and/or in situations of special social vulnerability (such as users in situations of isolation) and to provide a particularly swift response to such situations;

(d) the offer of credits on bills in cases where services have been unavailable for longer than 24 hours (for reasons not attributable to the consumer) for the amount equivalent to the price that would be due for the provision of the service over the period for which it was unavailable;

(e) reimbursement of costs incurred by consumers to report the unavailability of services (where for reasons not attributable to the consumer). This should be done automatically on the bill for the following month or by crediting the customer's balance.

ANACOM also recommends:

implementation of measures to simplify procedures in the management of contracts, so that consumers are not made subject to requirements which are more stringent than those which were applied when the service was initially contracted, in terms of requested documentation, confirmation of identity or other requirements. It is also recommended that, whenever consumers wish, interactions between the parties should take place remotely, without requiring travel to a physical outlet or presentation of physical documentation;
non-collection of penalties for late payment of bills until the end of 2021, provided that late payment is due to economic or other difficulties related to the Covid-19 situation;
flexibility of conditions for renegotiation of contracts at the initiative of consumers due to financial difficulties arising from the Covid-19 pandemic or from the measures adopted with a view to its containment, facilitating the reduction of contracts according to fair judgment, in line with the provisions in the legal regime governing termination or modification of the contract due to changes in circumstances.

ANACOM also recommends that telecom operators provide information to consumers about the measures implemented in response to the Covid-19 pandemic for as long as they are in force, highlighting this information on the homepage of their websites, as well as in provision of telephone, written and face-to-face customer support and complaint handling services, even if by reference to their websites. As such, information should be provided regarding:

(a) the right not to have the service suspended due to non-payment, to suspend the contract free of charge and to cancel the contract without penalty payment, as well as the respective conditions and applicable procedures;

(b) methods of contacting the company, with emphasis on remote means of contact;

(c) average and maximum estimated times for responding to complaints, repairing faults and connecting services, compensation applicable in case of delays and the procedures for compensation payment; and

(d) the special conditions granted by the company in certain situations, when applicable, especially to users with special needs or in circumstances of particular vulnerability, with information on how to access these conditions.

It is also recommended that the companies should act with flexibility in the cancellation and renegotiation of contracts by micro and small companies and by self-employed who are in situations of business difficulty (as under the terms of Law no. 29/2021 of 20 May), as well as by non-profit organisations in similar circumstances.

In the case of the postal sector, ANACOM specifically recommends:

strengthening the provision of information on the conditions applicable to the delivery of postal items at home, aimed in particular at recipients of these services, as well as the conditions applicable to the dispatch of postal items, in this case particularly aimed at senders;
ensuring sufficient capacity to provide remote assistance to customers, especially with regard to handling complaints, taking into account the increase in demand, and recommending in particular:

(a) additional allocation of resources to telephone and online services, in order to improve waiting times and to ensure that unanswered contacts are returned as soon as possible, depending on the specific matter in question, without prejudice to the requirements of compliance with Decree-Law no. 134/2009 of 2 June;

(b) provision of full, specific and reasoned responses to all complaints submitted to companies by means other than the complaint books, within a period not exceeding 15 working days, with provision of information on the right of the complainant to resort to conflict resolution mechanisms, and how to make contact and access these mechanisms where customers do not agree with the operator’s resolution of the complaint;

creation of mechanisms that that allow companies to identify users with special needs experiencing difficulties in accessing services and/or in situations of special social vulnerability (such as users in situations of isolation);
implementation of measures to simplify procedures in the management of contracts with a view to allowing, whenever users wish, that necessary interactions between the parties during the execution of contracts, including in case of amendment upon initiative of the sender, can be processed remotely, so that the customer is not required to visit physical outlets and is not required to present physical documentation;
provision of information to users, including senders and recipients, on measures implemented in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, for as long as they are in force, in a clear and complete manner. In particular, this information should be provided on the homepage of the company’s website, as well as in provision of telephone, written and face-to-face customer support and complaint handling services, even if by reference to the website.

a) the methods of contact with the company, with emphasis on remote means of contact;

b) estimated average and maximum times for responding to complaints;

c) details of compensation where these times are exceeded and the procedure for compensation payments; and

These recommendations, which have already been notified to companies in the sector, do not have bearing on the requirements for compliance by companies subject to specific legal or regulatory obligations applicable to the matters in question.

Consult:

Recommendations for companies providing electronic communications services and postal services arising from complaints made by communications users during the COVID-19 pandemic https://www.anacom.pt/render.jsp?contentId=1663598