Mexico. Four years after the Federal Institute of Telecommunications, IFT, and the Federal Consumer Prosecutor's Office (Profeco) enabled on July 6, 2015 the shared electronic platform Soy Usuario, a total of 52,569 nonconformities have been addressed; and significant progress has been made in protecting the rights of consumer users of telecommunications services, thanks to the publication of the Charter of the Minimum Rights of Users of Public Telecommunications Services.
Soy Usuario is a tool that allows users to present their disagreements about telecommunications services online, and receive attention through a pre-conciliation process with companies. The system has permanent access for the entry and follow-up of complaints; it has accessibility functions; sends automatic notifications to the email and, if requested, to the mobile phone, at no cost to the user and; is a secure access platform. In addition, this year the live chat service was implemented, in order to expand the channels of orientation towards the interested parties.
The use of the platform has been increasing, since it allows to identify the companies that show the highest incidences of failures, as well as to empower consumers to achieve improvements in telecommunications services, the exercise of their rights and speed up the attention. In its first year of operation, the platform received 9,469 nonconformities, while, for the fourth year, it amounted to 19,103, that is, more than double the number of complaints.
Of the total number of disagreements presented in these four years of operation, 87.5% have been resolved and 1.1% are in the process of being resolved; while the remaining 11.4% are complaints dismissed due to lack of follow-up by users and canceled due to duplication or at the request of interested parties. Regarding the type of problems reported, most of them are due to service failures; charges, balances or bonuses; and portability.
The states of the Mexican Republic from which the highest number of disagreements come are Mexico City with 25.7%, the State of Mexico with 21.0%, Jalisco with 7.7%, Puebla with 4.2% and Veracruz with 4.1 percent.
Regarding the reported services, 43.3% corresponds to mobile telephony, 27.6% to internet, 9.9% to fixed telephony, 9% to pay television and 0.09% to radio or trunking; and the rest to reports for two or more services together.
Profeco has granted 44,365 consultancies to users on their rights in the matter, within the platform itself; and, at the same time, it has other mechanisms for the attention of telecommunications users, such as the Consumer Telephone, Concilianet, Immediate Telephone Telecommunications Agreements and face-to-face conciliation in offices located throughout the Mexican Republic.
In 2016, the IFT was awarded by the Soy Usuario platform in the category of Good Practices 2016 by the Latin American Forum of Telecommunications Regulatory Entities (Regulatel). In addition, in 2017, it received the WSIS Champion recognition, granted by the International Telecommunication Union within the framework of the World Summit on the Information Society.
This July 6 also marks four years since the publication of the Charter of the Minimum Rights of Users of Public Telecommunications Services, which presents in a concrete and simple way the rights of consumers and the obligations of telecommunications service providers.
Thanks to this document, all telecommunications service providers must communicate to their customers the rights that are recognized in the Federal Law on Telecommunications and Broadcasting (LFTR), the Federal Law on Consumer Protection (LFPC) and other legal provisions, including:
- To demand the quality that the supplier has been obliged to fulfill, through its advertising or adhesion contract.
- That the statements, proof of payment and / or invoices issued by your service provider, are clear, legible and contain in a broken down manner the concepts by the cost of services, equipment, additional services, installation charges or other accessories such as insurance, bonds, memberships and other charges made.
- To choose the service provider and change companies free of charge keeping your same phone number, as many times as you decide.
- That the supplier informs you before contracting about the prices, rates, guarantees, penalties, compensations, quantities, quality, measures, interests, charges, terms, deadlines, dates, modalities, reservations and other conditions of the provision of the service.
- To know the coverage of the provider.
- Not to receive calls from providers to promote or sell services or packages, unless the user expressly expresses his consent.
- To the bonus if the service you receive is not provided in accordance with the quality and conditions agreed in the contract or, due to failures or undue charges.
- To respect the rates offered, which must be registered with the IFT.
- To report to the operator through expedited procedures, the theft or loss of mobile equipment, so that the service is immediately suspended.
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