Close Menu
TechCentralTechCentral

    Subscribe to the newsletter

    Get the best South African technology news and analysis delivered to your e-mail inbox every morning.

    Facebook X (Twitter) YouTube LinkedIn
    WhatsApp Facebook X (Twitter) LinkedIn YouTube
    TechCentralTechCentral
    • News

      World Bank set to back South Africa’s big energy grid roll-out

      20 June 2025

      The algorithm will sing now: why musicians should be worried about AI

      20 June 2025

      Sita hits back at critics, promises faster, automated procurement

      20 June 2025

      The transatlantic race to create the first television

      20 June 2025

      Listed: All the MVNOs in South Africa – 2025 edition

      19 June 2025
    • World

      Watch | Starship rocket explodes in setback to Musk’s Mars mission

      19 June 2025

      Trump Mobile dials into politics, profit and patriarchy

      17 June 2025

      Samsung plots health data hub to link users and doctors in real time

      17 June 2025

      Beijing’s chip champions blacklisted by Taiwan

      16 June 2025

      China is behind in AI chips – but for how much longer?

      13 June 2025
    • In-depth

      Meta bets $72-billion on AI – and investors love it

      17 June 2025

      MultiChoice may unbundle SuperSport from DStv

      12 June 2025

      Grok promised bias-free chat. Then came the edits

      2 June 2025

      Digital fortress: We go inside JB5, Teraco’s giant new AI-ready data centre

      30 May 2025

      Sam Altman and Jony Ive’s big bet to out-Apple Apple

      22 May 2025
    • TCS

      TCS+ | AfriGIS’s Helen Hulett on how tech can help resolve South Africa’s water crisis

      18 June 2025

      TechCentral Nexus S0E2: South Africa’s digital battlefield

      16 June 2025

      TechCentral Nexus S0E1: Starlink, BEE and a new leader at Vodacom

      8 June 2025

      TCS+ | The future of mobile money, with MTN’s Kagiso Mothibi

      6 June 2025

      TCS+ | AI is more than hype: Workday execs unpack real human impact

      4 June 2025
    • Opinion

      South Africa pioneered drone laws a decade ago – now it must catch up

      17 June 2025

      AI and the future of ICT distribution

      16 June 2025

      Singapore soared – why can’t we? Lessons South Africa refuses to learn

      13 June 2025

      Beyond the box: why IT distribution depends on real partnerships

      2 June 2025

      South Africa’s next crisis? Being offline in an AI-driven world

      2 June 2025
    • Company Hubs
      • Africa Data Centres
      • AfriGIS
      • Altron Digital Business
      • Altron Document Solutions
      • Altron Group
      • Arctic Wolf
      • AvertITD
      • Braintree
      • CallMiner
      • CYBER1 Solutions
      • Digicloud Africa
      • Digimune
      • Domains.co.za
      • ESET
      • Euphoria Telecom
      • Incredible Business
      • iONLINE
      • Iris Network Systems
      • LSD Open
      • NEC XON
      • Network Platforms
      • Next DLP
      • Ovations
      • Paracon
      • Paratus
      • Q-KON
      • SevenC
      • SkyWire
      • Solid8 Technologies
      • Telit Cinterion
      • Tenable
      • Vertiv
      • Videri Digital
      • Wipro
      • Workday
    • Sections
      • AI and machine learning
      • Banking
      • Broadcasting and Media
      • Cloud services
      • Contact centres and CX
      • Cryptocurrencies
      • Education and skills
      • Electronics and hardware
      • Energy and sustainability
      • Enterprise software
      • Fintech
      • Information security
      • Internet and connectivity
      • Internet of Things
      • Investment
      • IT services
      • Lifestyle
      • Motoring
      • Public sector
      • Retail and e-commerce
      • Science
      • SMEs and start-ups
      • Social media
      • Talent and leadership
      • Telecoms
    • Events
    • Advertise
    TechCentralTechCentral
    Home » In-depth » Operators face showdown at the consumer corral

    Operators face showdown at the consumer corral

    By Editor15 September 2011
    Twitter LinkedIn Facebook WhatsApp Email Telegram Copy Link
    News Alerts
    WhatsApp
    Mamodupi Mohlala

    The National Consumer Commission, established in April to enforce the new Consumer Protection Act, has received objections from all of SA’s big operators, with the exception of Neotel, to the compliance notices it served on them demanding they make the terms of their contracts clearer to consumers.

    Head of the commission, Mamodupi Mohlala, initially set a deadline of mid-September for operators to comply with its demands for transparency in advertising, non-automatic renewal of contracts and the ability for consumers to cancel contracts by giving 20 days’ notice, as stipulated by the act. To date, only Neotel has agreed to amend its contracts.

    Vodacom recently expressed its opposition to the compliance notices, claiming it was already in talks with the commission regarding amendments to its contracts and advertising. The company’s chief officer for corporate affairs, Portia Maurice, said recently the company was “surprised” to receive a compliance notice because it “already had an amendment process underway and had agreed with [the commission to] an implementation date of 31 October”.

    Mohlala says the commission received objection notices from Cell C and MTN on Wednesday, and that it expected objections from Telkom and its mobile arm, 8ta, to follow.

    The commission has been arguing with Vodacom about issues of quality of service for some time. “In terms of section 54 of the act, which deals with issues of quality of service, a consumer is entitled to receive goods or services at levels to which that consumer is accustomed, or at the levels as stipulated in the consumer’s contract,” Mohlala tells TechCentral.

    She says the issue is of growing relevance in light of Vodacom’s recent network failure and the furore earlier this week regarding its announcement that it would be throttling data speeds of heavy users of the BlackBerry Internet Service.

    Vodacom has since backtracked on its stated plans, with group CEO Pieter Uys blaming miscommunication by its corporate communications department.

    Vodacom Group CEO Pieter Uys

    “In terms of these compliance notices, we as the commission are saying there must be some guarantees with regards to quality of service. Currently, as the operators’ contracts stand, there are no guarantees,” says Mohlala.

    She says consumers are expected to “hold up their end of the agreements” by paying for services and paying additional fees in the case of premium services, but there “are no reciprocal guarantees from network operators around quality of service”.

    The consumer act specifies that in the event that an operator does not meet the “particular quality-of-service levels that are outlined in a contact”, then the it “must offer the affected consumer a remedy”, she says. If not, “the consumer is entitled to a refund to the extent that they have not received the guaranteed services or quality of service. Consumers must be compensated when operators don’t meet their obligations.”

    According to Mohlala, operators have “exclusive control over issues of network coverage and quality of service” and therefore need to give “some sort of commitment to consumers who are paying a lot for those services”.

    She says the compliance notices served on the operators also deal with the provisions of section 14 of the act. This refers to the bundling of services. The act says the “bundling of services is not prohibited, but operators must clearly show the benefits of a bundled service to consumers. Over and above that, they must show the financial benefits to the consumer.”

    Under the act, operators are obliged to make explicit and explain “in simple terms” what the unbundled costs of a service would be when compared to the bundled offering.

    “The obvious argument operators are going to put forward is that they don’t have absolute control over the services or over the full value chain of bundled services,” she says. “But we are saying to some extent, in relation to the product and services that they do offer, they have exclusive control over airtime [and] they have a responsibility to demonstrate the benefits of the various elements of the bundled service.”

    Mothibi Ramusi, Cell C’s executive head of regulatory affairs, says the company objected to notice it received because it believes there was “no merit in issuing a compliance notice as Cell C’s subscriber agreement is compliant with the act”.

    Vodacom’s Maurice says the operator intends to “address the matter” of the compliance notice it received “directly with the commission”.

    And Robert Madzonga, chief corporate services officer at MTN SA, says the compliance notice called for it to “adopt wording proposed by the commission” in its contracts and that it has “formally objected to the notice on various legitimate grounds”.

    “MTN has asked the [national consumer] tribunal to set the notice aside,” Madzonga says. “Amongst other things, MTN contends the notice was issued at a time when the subscriber agreement was in fact compliant; that the notice is based on an outdated and incorrect version of the subscriber agreement; and that the wording proposed in the notice is inappropriate.”

    He says that should the tribunal refuse to set aside the notice, “MTN has asked that the terms of the notice ought to be varied so as to allow a proper timeframe for compliance”.  — Craig Wilson, TechCentral

    • Subscribe to our free daily newsletter
    • Follow us on Twitter or on Facebook
    • Visit our sister website, SportsCentral (still in beta)


    8ta Cell C Consumer Protection Act Mamodupi Mohlala Mothibi Ramusi MTN National Consumer Commission Neotel Pieter Uys Robert Madzonga Telkom Vodacom
    Subscribe to TechCentral Subscribe to TechCentral
    Share. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram Email Copy Link
    Previous ArticleFor operators, sharing is caring, says KPMG
    Next Article Why SA’s tech start-ups should look to Africa

    Related Posts

    Listed: All the MVNOs in South Africa – 2025 edition

    19 June 2025

    MTN CEO edges Vodacom rival in pay stakes – but just barely

    18 June 2025

    Vodacom CEO Joosub bags R71m in pay – but taxman will take a big cut

    17 June 2025
    Company News

    Making IT happen: how Trade Link gears up to enable SA retail strategies

    20 June 2025

    Why parents choose CambriLearn for online education

    19 June 2025

    Disrupt first, ask questions later – the uncomfortable truth about incident response

    18 June 2025
    Opinion

    South Africa pioneered drone laws a decade ago – now it must catch up

    17 June 2025

    AI and the future of ICT distribution

    16 June 2025

    Singapore soared – why can’t we? Lessons South Africa refuses to learn

    13 June 2025

    Subscribe to Updates

    Get the best South African technology news and analysis delivered to your e-mail inbox every morning.

    © 2009 - 2025 NewsCentral Media

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.