300 Cases Filed in First Year of Telecommunications Dispute Resolution System... Increase in 5G Complaints

[Asia Economy Reporter Seulgina Jo] It has been confirmed that approximately 300 telecommunications dispute mediation cases were filed over the past year with the Korea Communications Commission's Telecommunications Dispute Mediation Committee, which was launched to mediate disputes between mobile carriers and consumers. The cumulative number of consultations related to telecommunications inconveniences and complaints reached 11,500. To mark the first anniversary of the system's introduction, the KCC plans to establish a 'one-stop reception-processing system' that resolves issues from consultation to mediation in one go and expand non-face-to-face systems.

According to the KCC on the 11th, Chairman Sang-hyuk Han held a meeting with dispute mediation committee members a day before the first anniversary of the introduction of the telecommunications dispute mediation system to discuss various policy improvements such as on-site inspections of disputes raised by users and experts, sharing the dispute mediation process, and disclosing cases of damage relief. The cumulative number of consultations related to telecommunications inconveniences and complaints over the one-year period since the introduction of the dispute mediation system was about 11,500, and the number of telecommunications dispute mediation cases filed reached approximately 300, resolving about 12,000 cases of user inconvenience.

A KCC official stated, "Recently, there has been a significant increase in dispute mediation applications due to issues such as 5G service quality. However, users have experienced inconvenience during the process because reporting, responses, and damage relief were conducted through different procedures when canceling bundled products like telephone and high-speed internet or when facing complaints about service quality such as IPTV and 5G."

Accordingly, to systematically manage user inconveniences and simplify procedures, the KCC opened the 'Telecommunications Dispute Mediation Counseling Center' today, consolidating previously scattered functions such as report reception, expert consultation, and damage relief. After a two-month pilot operation from April to May, the center will be fully operational starting in June. From November, the 'Telecommunications Inconvenience Reception and Consultation System' will be introduced, and dedicated personnel will increase from 2 to 7.

The KCC also decided to introduce a non-face-to-face consultation and dispute system considering the COVID-19 situation. The plan is to support smooth communication among dispute mediation committee members, users, and service providers and to provide relief for user damages regardless of time and location. Additionally, to strengthen communication with users, applicants will be able to check the progress of dispute mediation processing, and for repeatedly raised user inconveniences and complaints, damage relief cases and related databases will be provided.

At the opening ceremony, Chairman Sang-hyuk Han stated, "The KCC will systematically manage user inconveniences and improve the system to protect user rights even in unforeseen environments such as COVID-19. Furthermore, in the second half of the year, we plan to promote comprehensive system improvements to protect users."

He added, "To quickly and fairly resolve the increasing telecommunications user inconveniences recently, it is important to directly verify and inspect damages on-site. Therefore, we will accelerate efforts to reinforce related personnel and prepare manuals."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.