Almost every Ukrainian is a subscriber of mobile communication services. And everyone at least once in their life faced such problems as low-quality service provision, spam, debiting of funds for services that were not ordered, etc. Subscribers’ complaints are almost ineffective: national communications regulator does not protect the rights of anonymous subscribers, and they are 86% of the total number. Inspections are carried out on 1% of received complaints, prescriptions and sanctions are applied even less often. How to fix it?
BRDO in the new study “Protection of subscribers’ rights in Ukraine: TOP-10 problems” analysed ten key problems of subscribers in Ukraine and proposed ways to solve them.
Electronic communications are of key importance in ensuring access to information, realisation of opportunities and rights of citizens in various spheres of life. The number of active SIM cards is more than 49 million. That is, almost every Ukrainian is a mobile subscriber.
The protection of subscribers’ rights plays an important role in the digital economy. Their compliance is also necessary if Ukraine seeks to integrate into the EU’s Single Digital Market.
Since 2019, BRDO has been actively working to improve conditions for the protection of subscribers, but many of our initiatives are still waiting to be implemented. BRDO’s analysis highlights the main challenges faced by subscribers:
- Unavailability of communication (lack of coverage);
- Low-quality provision of services;
- Spam;
- Debiting funds for content services that the subscriber did not order;
- Artificially inflated costs;
- Limited choice of providers in multi-apartment buildings;
- Sim-swapping (“theft” of a subscriber’s number by fraudsters);
- Vulnerability of anonymous mobile subscribers;
- Subscribers’ complaints have almost no result;
- There are no effective tools to protect consumer rights.
The Head of the IT and telecom sector of BRDO Ihor Samohodskyi emphasizes: “The protection of subscribers should become a priority in the practical activities of authorities. Not only the well-being of citizens depends on this, but also the integration of Ukraine into the digital markets of the EU.”
Authors of the study: Nadiia Kostryba, Dmytro Lebedev, Ihor Samohodskyi, Hlib Shchegol.
The research was conducted within the framework of the EU4Business: SME Policies and Institutions Support (SMEPIS) project, implemented by Ecorys in a consortium with GIZ, BRDO and Civitta with the financial support of the European Union. The content of this publication is the sole responsibility of SMEPIS and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the European Union.