UCC wants MTN to explain delay in solving customers’ complaints

Kampala. Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) has said it is investigating why telecom giant, MTN has repeatedly failed to sufficiently address customers’ complaints.

In an interview at the weekend, Mr Godfrey Mutabazi, the UCC executive director, told Daily Monitor that the regulator had commissioned a committee to investigate recurring complaints, especially in relation to mobile money.

MTN, he said, has previously been warned about the same but the complaints continue to recur without being addressed.
“The complaints are too many and we want to know what is happening. As a regulator we have set up a committee to look into these matters then come up with a report,” he said.

The committee, Mutabazi said, will be composed of auditors from UCC and they will within seven days seek to understand why the complaints have not been addressed.

The probe comes at a time when there is an increase in complaints, especially from social media that have been directed towards the telecom under #MTNUgandaMweddeko hashtag.

Mr Val Oketcho, the MTN communications and corporate affairs manager at the weekend, told Daily Monitor the telecom had taken exceptional note of the various issues raised by the #MTNUgandaMweddeko hashtag and were open to discussion.
“We welcome the probe by UCC into our mobile money operations. We remain fully compliant to the set regulations that govern end-to-end process of mobile money transactions. We remain open to further discussions on the systemic changes that have been suggested and will continue to innovate to drive financial inclusion,” he said.

The hashtag was created by Makerere University lecturer and lawyer, Dr Busingye Kabumba after he was allegedly asked to produce a court order for the telecom to retrieve money he had sent to a wrong number.
In a Twitter massage MTN had said it was following standard procedure, noting that some people have previously taken advantage to claim money that they have not sent.

“Unfortunately the reversal cannot be done without authentication from the wrong receiver. We respect all customers and their privacy thus we always seek authentication to make reversals in case they receive money accidentally,” a reply to Dr Kabumba from the MTN Twitter handle said.

#MTNUgandaMweddeko
Sending money to a wrong recipient. About a week ago, lawyer Dr Busingye Kabumba, allegedly sent money to a wrong number.
He then lodged a complaint asking MTN to freeze the money on the recipient’s account.
However, he says, the MTN customer care desk asked him to wait for 24 hours as they tried to reach the owner of the number to confirm receipt of the money.

Dr Kabumba says he compiled with the request but was taken aback after MTN asked him to seek a court order to retrieve the money from the wrong number he had sent it to.
He then created a hashtag - #MTNUgandaMweddeko – through which he wants MTN to change the policy and make it easier for people to retrieve money sent to wrong numbers after they have proved they sent the money to unintended user.

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