The Australian Government has welcomed today’s release of the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (TIO) 2017-18 Annual Report which shows a significant decrease in complaints in the second half of the financial year.
This positive outcome follows a number of actions undertaken by the Government, regulators, and the telecommunications industry to improve transparency and accountability for consumers.
"The Government’s industry CEO roundtable on improving customer experience, the ACMA’s Complaints Handling Standard, NBN Co’s pricing changes and the ACCC’s broadband speed monitoring program are all making a difference," Minister for Communications and the Arts, Senator Mitch Fifield said.
"I’m very pleased to see that as a result of this work, consumers are receiving improved service from the telecommunication industry. We have spoken to retail service providers, we’ve listened to end users and we are now seeing positive results."
The majority of complaints were not related to the performance of the NBN. Of the complaints to the TIO about services delivered over the NBN network, only five per cent were sent to NBN Co to resolve.
The report also shows that the top issues relate to customer service, service and equipment fees, service delivery and delays. These types of issues are generally referred to the telecommunications retail service provider for resolution.
The number of complaints about services delivered over the NBN as a proportion of total NBN-activated premises is around 1 per cent, despite the network roughly doubling in size in the last twelve months.
"There’s still work to be done to improve industry performance. We want to ensure consumers are making informed choices and know their rights," Minister Fifield said.
The Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman is a not-for-profit company which provides an independent dispute resolution service for telephone and internet complaints.
