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1240/5(8451)
WRITTEN QUESTION TO THE MINISTER FOR TREASURY AND RESOURCES BY DEPUTY G.C.L. BAUDAINS OF ST. CLEMENT
ANSWER TO BE TABLED ON TUESDAY 9th SEPTEMBER 2014
Question
Does the Minister, as shareholder representative for utilities generally and Jersey Telecom in particular, consider that the Memorandum of Understandings which he relies on should include an ability to require adequate customer satisfaction?
Would he also, in relation to JT –
- confirm that, as of July of this year, the billing problem had not yet been resolved, and state when final resolution is expected;
- state why the company is not willing to supply its customers with a bill that is clear, comprehensible and easily understandable, and
- advise, during the last year, on how many occasions customers have been wrongly charged via Direct Debit and the amounts involved?
Answer
The Minister is the representative for all the utility shareholdings (referred to as Strategic Investments) and Memoranda of Understanding are in place for JT and Jersey Post (being the two wholly owned utilities). There are obligations in these memoranda in regard to operational efficiency and acting in the interests of the community, which the Minister believes directly link to ensuring adequate customer satisfaction.
Specifically in relation to JT, the Memorandum of Understanding includes an objective to be as efficient as comparable telecommunications businesses not owned by the States of Jersey and the requirement to provide adequate customer satisfaction forms part of this objective. But it is also worth noting that standards for adequate customer satisfaction are governed by regulatory obligations set out by CICRA and theses are contained in JT's Customer Code of Practice, which can be accessed via www.jtglobal.com or by following this link:
In relation to the further questions, JT has advised the Minister that:
- following cutover to the new operating platform there were 265 items listed for fixing with JT's supplier and 260 of these have now been successfully closed. Of the 5 remaining items, it is expected these will be dealt with over the next quarter;
- JT is committed to supplying its customers with bills that are clear, comprehensible and easily understandable, which is why it has delivered on the commitments already made (including those such as bigger print and easier to read colours that were raised by customers); and
- during the cutover to the new system there were a number of direct debit errors which were dealt with by JT making direct contact with each customer impacted and immediately taking action to refund such amounts. Over the last year, there have been an average of 100 direct debit refunds per month, which to put into context for the 62% of customers that choose to pay by direct debit equates to 0.33% of direct debit payments (the average value of which was c.£50).