October 1, 2021 Overview of Complaint and Consultation Cases over Telecommunications Services in FY2020

The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC) accepts complaint counseling requests and user information for problems related to telecommunications services by telephone at the Telecommunications Consumer Consultation Centers and Regional Bureau of Telecommunications nationwide. Furthermore, MIC has a dedicated web form on its website to accept complaints and consultations.
MIC has recently summarized the number of complaints and consultations received in the fiscal 2020 and decided to open the same to the public.

1. Number of complaints

MIC accepted 15,833 complaint counseling requests etc. on telecommunications services in fiscal 2020.

2．Utilization of accepted cases

The trends of consultation cases received by MIC and those related to telecommunications services received by each National Consumer Affairs Center of Japan (NCAC) nationwide are analyzed at regular meetings to monitor the implementation status of the Consumer Protection Rules. Then the results of the analysis are published.
MIC has Guidelines for Consumer Protection Rules for the Telecommunications Business Act to protect the interests of users. Furthermore, MIC’s Study Group on Verification of Consumer Protection Rules constantly examines and reviews the current Consumer Protection Rules.

3．Countermeasures against consumer problems

MIC has compiled and published useful information for countermeasures against consumer problems in Q&A on telecommunications services. Make use of this information when signing up for or using telecommunications services.