Ofcom warns on avalanche of unresolved broadband and mobile complaints

Ofcom is to impose tighter regulations from July 2011

Over three million customer complaints to broadband and mobile operators went unresolved last year, roughly a third of the total, according to new figures from Ofcom.

The regulator said that operators repeatedly fail to inform customers of the industry's two dispute resolution services, and announced that from July 2011 procedures for complaints handling will be updated as part of Ofcom's Review Of Consumer Complaint Procedures (PDF).

Operators will be forced to include contact details for the Communications and Internet Services Adjudication Scheme (CISAS) and the Office of the Telecommunications Ombudsmen on all correspondence with customers.

Companies will also have to write to consumers whose complaints have not been resolved within eight weeks to inform them of their right to use either of the dispute resolution services.

Veena Kanda, director of business development at CISAS, welcomed the move, claiming that it will bring benefits to consumers and communications providers.

"We have found that many consumers were unaware of their rights, so it's good they will now be made more aware of this, while for ISPs and mobile firms it will act as an incentive to improve their internal complaints procedures," she said.

Ofcom's research found that a quarter of consumers whose complaints were unresolved were unaware of such resolution services.

The new Code of Practice will come into force on 22 January, and the requirements for improving awareness of dispute resolution services will come into force on 22 July.