PTA 3-Year Survey Exposes Complaints and Telco Service Gaps

PTA survey history is at the centre of a detailed record of telecom checks and public complaints over the last 3-year period. The regulator carried out 438 quality of service surveys in that time. Of these, 232 were quarterly planned surveys. The planned checks included 169 complaint based surveys 35 road surveys and 2 surveys on railway tracks.

The data shows how the PTA followed up on user reports across many cities. In 2022 the authority completed three quarterly rounds covering dozens of cities. Enforcement letters and a show because notice were issued where networks did not meet standards. In 2023 four quarterly surveys produced mainly satisfactory results but some warning letters were required. In 2024 the PTA again ran four quarterly surveys and issued a show cause notice to one operator and warning letters to others in specific cities. So far in 2025 the regulator completed two quarterly surveys and sent warning letters to operators in three cities with compliance recorded.

The complaint record is large and concentrated. Over the 3-year period the PTA received 65,846 complaints on its Complaint Management System. Data services accounted for 39,736 complaints. Quality of service issues were 9,279. Service interruptions attributed to load shedding totalled 8,890. Service provision and coverage problems added another 7,941 complaints. The PTA reports that 65,528 complaints were resolved. That figure represents 99.51 percent of the total.

Specific enforcement steps are part of the record. Regulatory responses ranged from warning letters and compliance demands to a formal show cause notice. Operators named in enforcement actions included multiple CMOs. The regulator stated that follow up visits and documentation confirmed remedial steps in the vast majority of cases.

What the figures show is both scale and focus. Most complaints relate to data networks. Many enforcement actions are city specific. The PTA has relied on a mix of road surveys complaint based checks and targeted railway inspections to build the picture of network performance. The regulator has also tracked resolution rates and reported a near complete closure of logged cases.