Uganda ICT users create ICT consumer lobby

A group of Uganda ICT enthusiasts have moved to create a consumer lobby that will help address concerns of dissatisfied users of computer products and services.

Members of the private sector, civil society and the media have joined to create the Uganda ICT Consumer Protection Association.

ISPs in the country are widely known for poor customer service, and up to now customers have not had a consumer group to help them troubleshoot problems with PCs and computer peripherals.

"The association is here to awaken responsibility among users of ICT products and services, providers of the services and regulators, considering that users pay a lot of money for these products and services," James Wire Lunghabo, the chairman of the new lobby said in an interview.

"We are coming out not necessarily to antagonize providers; we are simply coming out to champion the rights of users," Lunghabo said.

According to Lunghabo, the lobby will strive to see that consumers get value for money. The lobby group intends to play a proactive and independent role and set standards for service providers, act as an arbiter between consumers and service providers and also create an avenue for educating the public on consumer rights.

The group will help consumers understand what suppliers can offer, and service providers will realize that they cannot get away with poor service, Lunghabo said.

The lobby is not out to antagonize service providers but to hold them accountable and make them understand that "quality of service in the ICT sector is a right, not a favor," Lunghabo said.

The association, which is scheduled to start work at the end of this month, will work to complement the industry regulator, the Uganda Communications Commission (UCC).

Consumer protection and education is one of the functions of the UCC. But the UCC runs a consumer relations desk that is seen by many as dormant.

Critics say that despite its mandate to handle consumer complaints, the UCC has failed or not attempted to address problems, especially with the big players in the sector because they contribute funds to some of its activities.

It is against that background that industry watchers have raised an alarm about the consumer lobby's acceptance of funding from the UCC.

"I would prefer if we did not operate under the government's wing but since UCC have said they will not interfere in our activities, I will take them at their word but be sure that should we see any kind of influence coming from them, we will be ready to say no," said Paul Asiimwe, one of the founding members of the new lobby.

The lobby has already registered a domain name and is building a Web site. The site will be interactive, offering reporting procedures to make it easy for visitors to post comments and complaints. The site will also have service and product profiles as well as pricing charts to enable users make informed decisions.

The association will intervene on behalf of consumers by interfacing with service providers when complaints crop up. Should a provider fail to address an issue, the consumer lobby will then go to UCC with the case.

The lobby, which will fund its activities largely through membership contributions, will then go public with the cases that fail to get resolved by inviting the media to "name and shame" those providers that will not comply.

Through writing and publishing of columns in the print press, blogs and dissemination of information via mailing lists, the lobby will seek to educate the Ugandan consumer on ICT.

One challenge the association will face is the lack of specific consumer protection legislation and laws in Uganda.

But according to Lunghabo, users will become more aggressive in demanding value for money, providers will be reluctant to take customers for granted and as a result they will be pushed to use better technologies to meet client's expectations.