Togolese regulator ARCEP (Electronic Communications and Postal Regulatory Authority) is implementing new frameworks aimed at protecting consumer interests.
Agence Ecofin reports that the new measures are largely aimed at making pricing standards fairer. Under the regulations, operators must make their offerings more transparent in five main areas.
Operators must disclose all details of offers on tariffs so that consumers are able to compare them clearly with rivals, while similarly the validity period for any tariff – whether on offer or otherwise – must be clearly stated and must be reasonable in respect of the price.
Additionally, airtime credit will no longer be allowed to expire as long as the SIM card is active, with the regulator stating that “top-ups must not have a period of validity beyond which the user loses the remaining balance of his credit.”
Finally, ARCEP is capping the amount that operators may charge customers for transferring credit between accounts and calling customer services. Henceforth, operator charges for credit transferals “must not exceed 3% of the amount transferred” while “the tariff for public access to operator customer support services cannot be billed at more than XOF20 [US$0.04] per call, whatever the duration of the call.”
