Zambia’s Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) plans to stop local mobile operators from sending text messages to consumers without their permission.
The commission has said it intends to engage the Zambia Information and Communication Technology Authority (ZICTA), the country’s telecom sector regulator, on a mechanism to compel the country’s three service providers - MTN, Airtel and Zamtel - to stop the trend.
The consumer protection body has said it is ‘unfair’ that the service providers are sending messages to consumers without getting their permission first.
Last year, ZICTA directed the service providers to stop sending unsolicited text messages to customers. But CCPC said the operators had disregarded the directive and have continued contacting consumers through messages and phone calls to advertise their promotions.
CCPC public relations officer Hansford Chaaba has said that the commission is in the process of engaging ZICTA to ensure that all mobile service providers in the country get permission from their customers first before sending promotional messages.
Chaaba has said that consumers in any country have the right to choose what they wanted to listen to or what they wanted to receive on their phones.
“It was unfortunate that mobile service providers had continued contacting their customers through messages and phone calls to advertise their promotions unnecessarily. Consumers had a right to choose,”Chaaba said.
He has added that the commission has received complaints from the general public over the act by the service providers.
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