Customers unhappy with their telecoms operator may in future be able to settle contractual disputes through an independent body.
This is the favoured option put forward in a paper released yesterday by the Office of the Telecommunications Authority as it launched a three-month consultation. Ofta said it did not think self-regulation would work.
Ofta proposed in 2007 that it wanted to provide a quick and economical way for service providers and clients to settle disputes with less legal formality by setting up an alternative dispute resolution scheme.
This proposal was followed by the customer complaint settlement scheme (CCSS), which ran on a pilot basis from September 2008 to February this year to test the practicality of the system.
However, it received a lukewarm response, with only three service providers taking part and just 18 cases being handled.
In a document to the Legislative Council's panel on information technology and broadcasting yesterday, Ofta said: 'Having regard to the far from enthusiastic participation of the industry in the pilot programme, [Ofta] is not optimistic that a self-regulatory scheme will work for the CCSS on a sustainable basis in the longer term.
'[Ofta] does not consider it appropriate to opt for a light-handed approach for this case and is inclined to invoke the condition of the relevant licences to mandate operators to participate in the future CCSS.'