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Your Rights & Responsibilities
As a telecommunications customer in Papua New Guinea, you have strong rights protected by NICTA rules and laws. These come from:
- the Consumer Protection Rule 2014 (as amended by the Draft Amendment Rule 2024)
- the Telecommunications Quality of Service (QoS) Rule 2022
- the Consumer Complaints Management System Guideline (24 November 2025)
- the NICTA Act 2009
Below are your key rights, responsibilities, and important definitions — explained in simple language.
Click each heading to see full details and the exact legal references.
You have the right to clear, accurate, and complete information about services, plans, prices, and fees.
What this means for you:
Providers must give honest, up-to-date information with no important details hidden. You get full details on features, costs, fees, restrictions, and how services work. After every call, SMS, or data session, you receive a notification of credit or data used. You can request a 6-month itemized history of your usage and charges anytime. Additional information includes product descriptions, technical specs, billing/payment details, usage limits, post-sale support, coverage maps, roaming, and options for customers with disabilities.
Legal references:
Consumer Protection Rule 2014 (original) — Requires minimum information transparency for retail customers. Consumer Protection (Amendment) Rule 2024 – Schedule 1, Clause 7.1.1: “A Telecommunications Service Provider must ensure that any information provided or made available to Consumers is clear, accurate, free of material omissions, relevant, current, and readily available.” NICTA Act 2009 — Section 6: Broad mandate to promote consumer safeguards and information provision.
You have the right to a free, short, easy-to-read summary of any plan to help you compare and choose.
What this means for you:
Providers must supply a free Critical Information Summary (CIS) for every offer. Maximum 2 pages, clear format, available in person and online. Includes service description, possible costs, fees, and customer service contacts. Covers new/special offers and helps you decide what suits you best.
Legal references:
Consumer Protection (Amendment) Rule 2024 – Schedule 1, Clause 7.1.2: “Suppliers must provide Critical Information Summaries (CISs) of their current offers to customers at no cost, for the purpose of helping customers to easily decide which products and services are best for them.” Builds on Consumer Protection Rule 2014 transparency obligations.
You have the right to honest advertising, sales, and services — no deception or unauthorised changes.
What this means for you:
No activation/deactivation of plans or value-added services without your explicit permission. Ads must clearly show all conditions, restrictions, and realistic claims. No untrue, impossible, or narrowly conditional promises about prices, speeds, or services. Special offers must state terms, timeframes, and eligibility clearly. Internet-only plans must show price per 1 MB of data.
Legal references:
Draft Consumer Protection (Amendment) Rule 2024 – Schedule 1, Clause 7.2.1: “Telecommunications Service Providers shall not activate or deactivate service plans or value-added services without explicit customer permission.”
“Service Providers shall not advertise claims about prices, products, or services that are untrue, impossible, or only possible for customers within highly specific parameters.”
Consumer Protection Rule 2014 — Original baseline against unfair practices.
You have the right to helpful, trained support when choosing or managing your services.
What this means for you:
Sales and support staff must explain options clearly and recommend what fits your needs. Providers must ensure high-quality service: reasonable wait times, good first-contact resolution, and record-keeping. Feedback is used to improve services.
Legal references:
Draft Consumer Protection (Amendment) Rule 2024 – Schedule 1, Clause 7.3.1:
“Sales Representatives must promote and sell products clearly and responsibly.”
“High-quality customer service, prominent hours of availability, low average wait times, significant first-contact resolutions, and thorough record-keeping.”
You have the right to reliable, good-quality telecom services that meet minimum standards.
What this means for you:
Providers must deliver acceptable voice call quality (few drops/failures), data speeds, stable connections (low latency/packet loss), timely fault repairs, and accessible customer support. If standards are not met, you can complain and expect action.
Legal references:
Telecommunications Quality of Service (QoS) Rule 2022 — Sets minimum technical and performance standards for voice, data, reliability, repairs, and support.
NICTA Act 2009 — Section 6: Mandate to ensure quality and reliability of ICT services.
You have the right to a fair, free process to complain and get problems resolved.
What this means for you:
Provider First — Contact your provider first and allow reasonable time for resolution. If unresolved, escalate to NICTA (free). NICTA follows a 10-step process: intake, assessment, investigation, recommendation, resolution, closure, and follow-up. Complaints are confidential, and you receive updates.
Legal references:
- Consumer Complaints Management System Guideline (24 November 2025) – Section 4: Ten-Step Consumer Complaints Handling Process (Steps 1–10).
- Draft Consumer Protection (Amendment) Rule 2024 – Implied through redress emphasis in consumer choice and protection sections.
- NICTA Act 2009 — Section 6: Authority to handle consumer complaints and provide redress.
You have the right to have your personal information protected and to be safe from data misuse.
What this means for you:
Providers must keep your personal data (name, billing, usage) confidential and secure. Free tools/advice to prevent unauthorised access (e.g., passwords, alerts). Protection from abuse, scams, harassment, or malicious use of your data/phone.
Legal references:
- Draft Consumer Protection (Amendment) Rule 2024 — Section 8.4.1 & 8.4.2
- (Protection and Safety): “Ensure that all customers’ Personal Information is protected from unauthorized use or disclosure.”
- “Ensure that Customers are protected from abusive treatment… Develop investigation procedures…”
- Cybercrime Code Act 2016 — Covers unauthorised access, data theft, scams (cross-referenced in complaints).
You have the right to make real choices based on clear information — without barriers.
What this means for you:
Full transparency helps you compare and select the best services. No misleading tactics or unauthorised lock-ins. Assistance to understand options.
Legal references:
- Draft Consumer Protection (Amendment) Rule 2024 — Schedule 1, Clause 7 (Right to Informed Consumer Choice): Covers information, CIS, advertising protection, and assistance.
- Consumer Protection Rule 2014 — Original transparency foundation.
What you need to do as a customer.
- Pay bills on time to avoid restrictions.
- Subscribe to an operator’s credit/plan before using its services.
- Keep account details, passwords, and SIM secure.
- Use services legally and responsibly.
- Register your SIM card as required.
- Contact your provider first before escalating to NICTA (Provider First rule).
These responsibilities support fair, secure, and reliable services for everyone.
- Consumer — Person or small business using telecom services.
- Service Provider — Licensed operators (e.g., Digicel, Vodafone, Telikom).
- Critical Information Summary (CIS) — Free 2-page plan summary.
- Bill shock — Unexpected high charges.
- Value-added services — Extra features (e.g., data packs).
- Provider First rule — Contact provider before NICTA.
- Quality of Service (QoS) — Minimum standards for performance.
Important: If you feel your rights have been violated, please first report the issue to your service provider (call, visit their shop, or use their app). Give them a reasonable chance to fix it — this is the Provider First rule.
If you are not satisfied with their response, you can raise a <complaint> with NICTA — it’s free and confidential.
→ Go to: complaints handling & redress
We’re here to help you get fair treatment!