DECREASING RATES OF TELCO COMPLAINTS CONTINUE IN LATEST COMPLAINTS IN CONTEXT REPORT

Sydney, 14 May 2021 - Communications Alliance has today published its Complaints in Context report for the January – March 2021 quarter, showing a small decrease in complaint rates for the participating providers.

The report details the complaints received by the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (TIO) per 10,000 Services in Operation (SIO) for participating service providers for each quarter. This index allows comparison of the customer service and complaint handing performance of providers, regardless of their size.

For all participating service providers, there were 6.9 complaints per 10,000 SIOs, a decrease from the 7.0 ratio in the October – December quarter. Individual provider results were mixed, with some falling and others remaining steady or rising. As report participants change each year for the October – December quarter, the overall  ratio is not directly comparable to prior years.

Communications Alliance CEO John Stanton said: “The ACMA’s recent publication of data about complaints lodged directly with telcos showed a 40% decrease over a two-year period up to the October – December quarter. While the decrease in the rate of complaints made to the TIO for this this quarter was not nearly as strong, telcos continue to work to improve customer service.”

The industry-driven report is published by Communications Alliance, using complaints data provided by the TIO and SIO data supplied by participating providers. Per the Telecommunications Consumer Protections (TCP) Code, participants are updated annually to reflect the top 10 complaint recipients in the most recent TIO Annual Report, in addition to voluntary participants.

Communications Alliance encourages any RSP interested in joining the index to contact them.