ComReg has published its Decision for service providers on implementing a Customer Charter following a public consultation.
The Decision means internet and phone providers with a market share of 0.5% or more must:
- Prepare, publish and keep their Customer Charters up to date, and
- Measure and report their performance against these commitments to ComReg.
Customer Charter
A Customer Charter is a “one-stop shop” of information for consumers, microenterprises, small enterprises and not-for-profit organisations about the expected levels of quality of customer service from service providers.
Service providers must inform customers about their new Customer Charters and, from 5 January 2026, must publish them on their websites, giving customers access to information about:
Levels of customer service from service provider
Customer Charters set out expected levels of customer service from service providers including:
- Contacting customer service: Time commitment for trained customer service agents to respond via phone, chat, email, web form and post; and the role of Artificial Intelligence solutions.
- Connecting a new service: Timeframe for acknowledging and activating new service requests.
- Refunds: Commitment on the timeline for issuing refunds and type(s) of refund available.
- Service outages: Notification period for planned outages and timely updates for unplanned outages.
Details of compensation
Customers can find details regarding:
- Mandatory schemes for delays and issues with switching and porting and associated missed appointments and any other mandatory compensation.
- Any compensation for unmet commitments by service providers.
- General compensation offered by service providers.
Customer service
Information is available in Customer Charters, including on:
- Refund policy
- Accessibility statement and accessibility information
- Complaints handling code of practice
- Contact details and hours of operation
Customer Charters can be updated by service providers at the start of any calendar quarter.
If customers cannot access Charters online, they can request a copy by contacting the service providers. Persons with disabilities may request the Charter in an accessible format.
