Complaints in the telecommunications sector fell by 9% in the second quarter year-on-year, mainly due to a drop in complaints about electronic communications, but those relating to postal services rose by 10%, Anacom announced on Monday.
From April to June, the National Communications Authority (Anacom) registered around 23,200 written complaints against communications service providers, less 9% than in the same period in 2023.
This decrease was mainly due to driven by 18% reduction in complaints about electronic communicationsup to 14,200, while complaints about postal services registered a new year-on-year increase of 10% to 9,000.
In terms of complaints relating to electronic communications, NOS was the provider that registered the most complaints this quarter, both in absolute and relative terms, with 5,400 complaints, 11% less year-on-year and 1.9 complaints per 1,000 customers.
According to Anacom, the NOS is responsible for 38% of complaints of the sector.
Vodafone follows, responsible for 34% of the sector’s claims and operator with the greatest reduction in the number of complaints in the quarter –23%-, registering 4,900 complaints and 1.3 complaints per 1,000 customers.
MEO was the supplier that recorded the lowest number of complaints in the sector: 3,500, representing 25% of the total and a year-on-year drop of 21%, which translates into 0.7 complaints per 1,000 customers.
In the first six months of the year, 48,400 complaints were filed regarding communications services, 11% fewer than in the previous year.
Of this total, 30,000 complaints relate to electronic communications (62% of the total), 20% less than in the same period last year, while postal services were responsible for 18,400 complaints. 12% more than the same period last yearand represent 38% of the total.
In the half-yearly analysis, NOS was also the provider with the highest number of complaints in absolute terms and per 1,000 customers, followed by Vodafone and MEO, which remains the operator with the fewest complaints.
According to the regulator, the Fixed Internet access service failures were the most common reason for complaints from users of electronic communications services, accounting for 1,760 complaints (12% of the total in the sector) in the second quarter of the year. They were also the most common reason for complaints in the first half of the year, with 3,700 complaints.
The other most frequently reported reasons were the delay or lack of resolution of claims, the delay or poor repair of services and difficulties in exercising the right to freely terminate contracts.
In the postal services sector, CTT were responsible for 7,600 (85% of the total) Of the 9,000 complaints registered in the second quarter of this year, which represents a 9% increase compared to the same period in 2023.
DPD is responsible for 7% of complaints and is the second postal operator with the most complaints, with 600 complaints in the quarter, 2% less than in the previous year.
The group of other postal providers with fewer complaints (UPS, General Logistics, CEP II, DHL, VASP Premium, Logista, Ibercourier, TNT, among others) accounted for around 8% of the sector’s complaints and experienced an increase in complaints in this period of 29%.
HE Do not attempt home delivery was the most frequently reported reason in postal services (17% of total complaints in the sector) in the second quarter of 2024, with delays in the delivery of national regular mail and the loss of national certified mail being the reasons that increased the most compared to the same period in 2023.
Anacom data also show that, in the first half of the year, of the 18,400 complaints registered about postal services, CTT was the subject of 15,400 or 84% of the total.
Source: Observadora
