Africa-Press – Tanzania. THE Minister for Communication and Information Technology, Dr Faustine Ndugulile has issued a three-month ultimatum to Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority (TCRA) to end public complaints against mobile phone companies allegedly robbing them of Internet and airtime bundle charges.
Dr Ndugulile issued the ultimatum in Dar es Salaam on Monday, during his familiarisation tour to TCRA, being one of the institutions in his ministry.
He said TCRA must address the complaints, which have persisted in the public especially on Internet and airtime bundles, they claim to be overcharged.
Minister Ndugulile said that there should be a system to verify the actual cost of communication and money paid by a customer, as well as a toll-free number(s) for everyone to submit his/her complaints.
This comes a few days after the Minister issued the same directives to TCRA Consumer Consultative Council (CCC) to work on such complaints.
The Minister stressed that it was better for the authority to come up with a decision that addresses public concern, especially the TCRA – CCC that serves majority of Tanzanians.
“Tanzanians are not ignorant, they want to see the value for their money spent on internet and airtime bundles,” he added.
According to the minister, complaints have been aplenty from the public on the packages offered by telecom operators, adding that it is vital to work on them and come up with long-lasting solutions.
He said the information he had was that consumers are complaining about the Internet bundles and Airtime packages including high charges in comparison to the packages issued, as well as the expiry of the bundles.
According to the report released by Research ICT Africa Internet, data charges in Tanzania are the cheapest in East Africa, the region has one of the cheapest internet charges on the African continent.
The reports further show that Tanzania leads with low cost of 4,950.52/-, followed by Rwanda 4995.94/-, Kenya 5540.95/-, Uganda 6199.50/- and Burundi 6858.06/- as of September 2019.
Commenting, TCRA Director General, Engineer James Kilaba acknowledged the challenges of the bandwidth and packaging, and promised to work on them.
On his part, the Deputy Minister in the ministry, Engineer Kundo Mathew commended TCRA for designing Information Communication Technology (ICT) systems and recognising the challenges they have and working on them.
On her part, Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Dr Zainab Chaula called upon TCRA staff to intensify their commitment instead of waiting for instructions, saying: “You are experts so working together will ensure you continue serving service providers and users of communication services.”
Last week, during the meeting with the minister, TCRA-CCC Executive Secretary, Ms Mary Msuya acknowledged that there are rampant complaints against telecommunication companies and pledged to work on them.
“We are moving towards a digital economy…consumers are increasing rapidly and even mobile services have increased, so we plan to follow the minister’s instructions to ensure every user enjoys and sees the product of the services rendred,” she said
