Regulator releases new consumer protection policy

Qatar’s telecoms regulator ictQATAR (Ministry of ICT, formerly Supreme Council for ICT) has released its Telecommunications Consumer Protection Policy, bringing together the existing obligations on service providers in one document, while imposing a set of new obligations on operators to ensure that they compete fairly. The Policy includes a strengthened system for monitoring and enforcing compliance with the rules, and provision for a dispute resolution process that is independent of operators. Eiman Al-Ansari, consumer and government affairs manager at ictQATAR, said: ‘ictQATAR already operates an independent complaints service, which consumers can contact if they are dissatisfied with the way their telecommunications operator has treated their complaint, but the improvements made through the draft Policy will make it more effective and better able to ensure that operators are acting in the interests of consumers.’ The Policy was developed following a public consultation with the major users of telecommunications services in Qatar, and the draft Telecommunication Consumer Protection Policy was published for public consultation in September 2013. The Policy fully takes into account existing international and regional recognised standards for Telecommunication Consumer rights. The terms of the Policy require it to be reviewed no less than every two years.