Independent Communications Authority of South Africa Act, 2000 (Act No. 13 of 2000)

Regulations

Purchase

4.1.	A complainant may lodge a complaint with the Authority if:

(a)	The complainant disputes the outcome received from a Licensee; or

(b)	A Licensee has either failed to respond, or to respond adequately, within the prescribed period.

4.2.	The Authority must:

(a)	Acknowledge an escalated complaint within forty-eight (48) hours;

(b)	Allocate a reference number to the complaint; and

(c)	Refer the complaint back to the Licensee within forty-eight (48) hours.

4.3.	The Licensee must:

(a)	Acknowledge receipt of the complaint referred to it by the Authority within forty-eight (48) hours;

(b)	Resolve each complaint referred by the Authority in writing within fourteen (14) days of receipt thereof; and

(c)	Provide the Authority with written confirmation on how the referred complaint is resolved.

4.4.	Alternative Dispute Resolution process:

(a)	An escalated complaint may be referred to the Authority’s ADR process, as set out in Consumer Complaints Procedure,1 should a Licensee not be able to resolve the complaint in terms of regulation 4.3.

(b)	The ADR may be chaired by a Councillor of the Authority or other suitably designated person/s.

(c)	The Authority will inform the complainant and the Licensee of the venue and time when the ADR session will take place.

(d)	The Licensee and the complainant will be informed of the outcome of the ADR session, and where non-compliance has been identified, the matter will be referred to the CCC.

4.5.	When investigating a matter, the Authority will adopt the following procedure:

(a)	Request all relevant information in writing, as well as supporting documentation that will assist in the investigation process;

(b)	After collecting all the relevant information on the matter, the complaint will be analysed, and a suitable recommendation will be made to the respective parties; and

(c)	The complainant shall be informed of progress on the matter by the Authority throughout the process.

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1 The Consumer Complaints Procedure is available on the Authority’s website https://www.icasa.org.za/pages/consumer-complaints-procedure

[Regulation 4 substituted by section 6 of Notice No. 1464, GG45415, dated 29 October 2021: effective 29 January 2022]