ITU-D Study Group 1 Question 6/1 “Consumer information, protection and rights: Laws, regulation, economic bases, consumer networks”

Archana G. Gulati, Vice-Rapporteur ITU-D Study Group 1 Question 6/1 “Consumer information, protection and rights: Laws, regulation, economic bases, consumer networks”, Government of India.

Elisa Leonel, Vice-Rapporteur ITU-D Study Group 1 Question 6/1 “Consumer information, protection and rights: Laws, regulation, economic bases, consumer networks”, Agência Nacional de Telecomunicações (ANATEL), Brazil

ITU- D Study Group Question 6/1​ addresses consumer protection within the context of the rapid evolution of technologies and the appearance in the market of ever more sophisticated technologies, equipment and new business models which benefit consumers. As part of the work of the management team of this question, an annual deliverable was elaborated based on contributions received from membership and was augmented by discussion held in the webinar held on 2 July 2020 , as part of ITU-D Study Group “Reflections on COVID-19“ series.

This paper brings an overview of challenges linked to nuisance and fraudulent calls and text messages and the strategies adopted by different countries to tackle the problem. After contextualizing the problem, this paper showcases approaches from different countries. In general, a situation involving four stakeholders is considered, namely: telecommunication operators, market players selling their services or products, telecommunication regulators, and consumers. The specific approaches for each stakeholder are discussed with examples.