CYBERJAYA: Telecommunication services disruption and network problems drew the highest number of complaints from the public for the first six months of the year, the Communications and Multimedia Consumer Forum of Malaysia (CFM) said today.
Its deputy chairman Mohamad Yusrizal Yusoff said there were 1,938 complaints on service disruptions and network issues from January to June this year, the top complaint received for the fourth year running.
In total, there were 4,635 complaints on a range of telecommunication issues, an increase of 161% compared to 1,770 complaints for the same period last year, he said.
“From 4,635 complaints received, 97% or 4,496 complaints were resolved in less than 15 days as stipulated in the General Consumer Code of Practice for the Communications and Multimedia Industry Malaysia (GCC),” he said in a press conference after CFM 18th Annual General Meeting here today.
The remaining 3% could not be resolved due to infrastructure issues in the affected areas and they have been referred to the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) for further action, he said.
In addition, Mohamad Yusrizal said the second-highest complaints were those related to billing and charges at 1,211 followed by services (547), number mobility (286), SMS services (230), unfair practices (163), misrepresentation of services (106), prices (72), dispute over terms and conditions (60) and other complaints (22).
Mohamad Yusrizal said among the most common issues related to network problems were disruption in services and services which could not be used, poor coverage and no coverage of 4G/LTE respectively, and no high-speed broadband coverage.
He said the most recent issue that CFM was concerned about was the Direct Carrier Billing, a digital payment method at Google Play Store or Apple App Store via monthly telephone bills or prepaid credit.
“Due to the development of digital technology in payment systems and the wide usage of e-Wallet, more consumers are opting for the cashless payment method.
“As a result, CFM has received several complaints regarding issues related to these payments made through mobile phones,” he said.
“CFM advises consumers to constantly check and monitor their phone bills, do not store payment details on your device, don’t share TAC (transaction authorised code) numbers or pins with any party, do not authorise unknown transactions, and most importantly, don’t share personal data with anyone,” he added.
At the same press conference, CFM announced the appointment of Unifi vice-president (Customer Services Management) at Telekom Malaysia Berhad, Mohana Mohariff as the new CFM chairwoman, and 13 new council members for the 2019-2021 session. — Bernama
