Consumers' Guide to Resolving Disputes with Telecom Service Providers
1. What should I do if I want to dispute my bill? You should contact your service provider(s) to verify the items in your bill against their call records. IDA will not intervene in billing disputes because IDA will not be able to determine the accuracy of the bills.
However, if you believe that the call records were improperly registered, you may wish to contact CASE or Small Claims Tribunal, together with the evidence to prove your case.
2. Can IDA help me negotiate with my service provider for a bill waiver? Bill waivers are provided at the discretion of your service provider, hence, IDA will not be able to intervene. If you believe that you have been wrongly billed, you should notify your service provider.
3. If I am disputing my bill, do I need to pay my service provider first? No, you should not be required to pay any disputed amounts until the dispute is resolved. This is on the condition that you inform your service provider about your dispute before the payment becomes due.
4. What happens if my service provider confirms that the charges in my bill are correct?
If the charges in your bill are found to be accurate, you would be required to pay for these charges. However, if you still dispute the charges, please approach the Small Claims Tribunal accordingly.
5. If I have already paid my bill, can I still dispute it later?
If you have already paid a bill and subsequently choose to dispute it, you will have one year (starting from the date of the bill) to do so.
6. Can I dispute charges for pre-paid services?
Yes, if you purchase a pre-paid service and choose to contest any charge, you will have one year (starting from the date on which the charge was deducted) to do so.
1. What should I do if I want to dispute my service contract?
It is advised that you approach the service provider or seek proper legal advice if you have concerns regarding your contract. All contracts signed are governed by the relevant Laws of Contract, and IDA will not be able to intervene.
You can also avoid dispute on your service contract by seeking clarification from your service provider and being fully aware of all terms and conditions of your service contract before signing it.
The following are some terms you should look out for:
1. What should I do if I have a faulty equipment?
You should request from the service provider and equipment dealer remedial actions as provided for in the contract between you and the service provider or equipment dealer. All contracts signed are governed by the relevant Laws of Contract, and IDA will not be able to intervene.
2. What happens if my service provider refuses remedy actions or offers a solution I find dissatisfactory?
You may wish to raise the matter to CASE, or seek legal aid.
CASE Tel: 6463 1811, Email: complaints@case.org.sg
1. What should I do if I am harassed by nuisance/ prank calls, SMS or faxes?
If you face problems concerning nuisance/ prank calls, SMS or faxes, you should alert your service provider and seek its assistance. If the problem persists or the content contains elements of threat, you may wish to seek assistance from the Police.
2. What should I do if I receive SMS/MMS messages containing sexually explicit or offensive messages?
If the message contains sexually explicit or offensive content, you may wish to refer the matter to Media Development Authority (MDA) for further investigation or advice.
If the message contains offensive language that might amount to a threat or that might cause racial or religious disharmony, you may wish to refer the message to the Police.
You should separately approach your service provider for assistance on how you can stop receiving these messages.
3. What is spam, and how can I stop it?
Spam is often used to refer to unsolicited commercial electronic messages (advertisements) sent in bulk to e-mail addresses or mobile telephone numbers.
If you wish to stop receiving these messages, you should inform the sender to remove your e-mail address/ phone number from their mailing lists. However, if the message appears to be from a dubious origin, you are advised to not reply to the message, and to alert your service provider instead for assistance.
If your equipment, for example your computer or mobile phone, is damaged due to the spam message, you are advised to report the matter to the Police.
1. I am told that I have subscribed to a service, but I do not recall doing so. What should I do if I wish to dispute this?
You should contact your service provider to seek their clarification.
Some content service providers send unsolicited SMS messages to invite mobile phone users to subscribe to services such as ringtone downloads, chat and information services. You may have mistakenly subscribed to a service by downloading certain content from the service provider.
To avoid such a scenario, it is advisable that you read and fully understand the terms and conditions before downloading any content or subscribing to any service.
IDA is generally not able to intervene in matters where the customer has contractually agreed to subscribe to such services.
1. I have been misled by an advertisement for a telecom product/ service. How can I seek compensation?
You should raise the matter to CASE and/ or the Advertising Standards Authority of Singapore (ASAS). ASAS is the advisory council to CASE, and is the self-regulatory body of the advertising industry.
ASAS Tel: 6461 1888, Email: asas@case.org.sg
1. What should I do if I am dissatisfied with the mobile service coverage in a particular area?
You should bring the matter to your service provider's attention. For technical matters such as service coverage, the service providers are in the best position to provide assistance.
To ensure that mobile coverage at publicly accessible areas is at an acceptable level, IDA has put in place a set of minimum quality of service standards to ensure good mobile phone service coverage in Singapore at all public access areas. Specifically, IDA has required the mobile operators to ensure more than 95% on street level service coverage and more than 85% in-building service coverage for publicly accessible areas. Publicly accessible areas are areas where the volume of human traffic flow is high, such as the atrium of main lobby area, podium floors of tower building, multi-storey car parks and basement levels where services such as food courts and supermarkets are available.
Provision of service coverage in other areas within the buildings not indicated above, such as within lifts, offices and private homes are not mandated by IDA. For such areas, IDA leaves it to operators to decide and negotiate commercially with the building/ home owners to install the necessary equipment to provide better service coverage within the buildings We understand that in most cases, even though it is not mandated by IDA, service coverage is provided to these areas.
1. My service provider's customer service is sloppy and unresponsive. What can IDA do to help me?
If you are dissatisfied with the customer service of your service provider, you should highlight the matter to your service provider in writing. You should state the details of the conversation (e.g. name of customer service officer, time of call, issue highlighted, response received, and the reason for your dissatisfaction, etc.), so that the matter can be looked into by the service provider's Management.
In a competitive telecom environment, IDA has refrained from setting standards on customer service for service providers. IDA believes that competition would compel the service providers to strive to provide better service to retain their customers.
Here are some pointers to bear in mind when you approach your service provider for assistance on your problem:
You may wish to raise your matter to the Consumer Association of Singapore (CASE), or the Small Claims Tribunal.
Small Claims Tribunal Tel: 6435 5937 Website: http://www.smallclaims.gov.sg
IDA will only be able to intervene if your service provider has failed to comply with the rules and regulations set out by IDA.
To safeguard consumers' interests, IDA has required service providers to comply with Quality of Service (QoS) standards for telecom services. Service providers are also required to comply with the Telecom Competition Code (Code).
Under the Code, your service provider must:
To learn more about your rights as a consumer, please see Regulatory Obligations of Telecom Service Providers .
If you have evidence to show that a service provider has failed to comply with these regulatory requirements, please notify IDA at info@ida.gov.sg.
You may also wish to refer to IDA's FAQ for other commonly asked questions relating to telecom services.
Complainants are also reminded that it is an offence under the Miscellaneous Offences Act to use any indecent, threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour towards an IDA officer in the execution of his duty as such public servant.