Autoridade Nacional de Comunicações (ANACOM) received 78,239 complaints in 2014, 8.9% more than in the previous year. The majority of complaints (66,017) referenced electronic communication services (84.4% of the total), increasing 13.4% over the previous year.
Issues related to contracts governing the provision of electronic communications services were those most cited by users of these services in complaints, representing more than half of the analysed complaints (54.2%) - in particular problems related to the sale (33.5%) and cancellation of the service (28%). These are followed by issues related to equipment (14.1% of total complaints), and billing (10.2% of total complaints), with billing reported as having the biggest annual increase (jumping by 59.6%). Faults, customer service and portability are the other areas giving rise to complaints.
Nearly all the issues mentioned above are contractual issues that fall outside the scope of ANACOM's competence.
In the period being reported, complaints related to advertising campaigns are residual in the total number complaints received by ANACOM with minimal expression as a proportion of the total.
In 2014, the mobile telephone service and bundles of services have seen an increase in the rate of complaints versus 2013, with the average number of complaints per one thousand customers rising from 1.24 to 1.57 in the case of the mobile telephone service and from 5.28 to 6.12 in the case of bundles of services.
Reductions in complaint rates were reported for the remaining services, particularly for the telephone service at a fixed location (with the rate falling from an average of 0.84 complaints per thousand customers in 2013 to an average of 0.64 in 2014); the telephone service at a fixed location remains the service with the lowest rate of complaints.
Taking into account the total number of electronic communications service customers of each provider, Grupo NOS was the most commonly cited provider in complaints during the period being reported, with 2.67 complaints per thousand customers. Vodafone was the provider giving rise to the fewest complaints with 1.16 complaints per thousand customers.
Postal services registered 8,008 complaints, 3.7% fewer than in 2013. Postal Services accounted for 10.2% of total complaints received by ANACOM in 2014.
Mail delivery was the postal service giving rise to most complaints, making up 43.5% of the complaints received. The issues giving rise to the largest number of complaints relate to customer service provided in post offices (27.3%), followed by problems related to attempts to deliver correspondence and parcels at home (14%) and issues related to the late delivery of postal items (13%).
Complaints referring to digital terrestrial television recorded the largest year-on-year decrease (dropping 34.1%), and represent 1.2% of total complaints.
The complaints that fell within ANACOM's area of intervention were examined according to the different situations referred to, and various indications of non-compliance with relevant sector legislation were detected by ANACOM, particularly as regards information on the conditions governing the offer and supply of services, procedures for the cancellation of services, advance notice as to the amendment of contract conditions, the unblocking of equipment, notice of suspension of services, the availability of complaint books and daily postal delivery. As a result, enforcement actions were initiated (353 actions related to electronic communications services and 270 actions related to the provision of postal services). In cases where non-compliance is confirmed, ANACOM proceeds with the instigation of breach proceedings. In 2014, breach proceedings were brought in 346 cases and concluded in 360 cases (including a number of cases carried over from the previous year).
Consult:
Reclamações e pedidos de informação sobre serviços de comunicações - Relatório Anual 2014https://anacom-consumidor.pt/estatisticas-reclamacoes-servicos - Portal do Consumidor
