Ministry of Communications imposed fines of NIS 1,021,570 on communications companies that exceeded response times

The Ministry of Communications imposed fines of NIS 1,021,570 on communications companies that exceeded response times at call centers. For the companies, these are small amounts. The highest fine was received by HOT Mobile: NIS 343,420. After her: Rami Levy Communications - NIS 242,620. HOTnet, also owned by HOT, was fined NIS 172,960, Bezeq International was fined NIS 166,550 and Expon was fined NIS 65,140 and NIS 30,880.
The Ministry of Communications stated that the violations were discovered during an inspection conducted by the Ministry of Supervision and Enforcement on the implementation of these provisions. Telecommunications companies are required by law to answer at least 85% of calls received at their call centers by a human response in a period of up to 6 minutes and that the average waiting time is up to 4.5 minutes. In addition, the companies are required by their license to operate a technical service center 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and they must provide the ministry with data on how the companies meet these conditions.
The firm's investigation revealed that the companies Hot Mobile, Rami Levy Communications, Hot Net and Bezeq International exceeded the response times allowed in their license.
It was further stated that "Furthermore, it was discovered that Rami Levy Communications does not operate its technical support center 24 hours a day as required, and despite the ministry's inquiries, did not rectify the situation and continued to harm its customers. Expon 018 and Marathon 018 Expon violated the ministry's instructions. Regarding the transfer of information about response times, and did not provide the office with the data required to check the quality of customer service they provide to their customers.
"The Ministry of Communications takes very seriously any harm to consumers in Israel, especially in the field of service quality enjoyed by customers of communications companies. The ministry will continue to monitor and enforce the companies' licensing provisions, and will work to encourage companies to develop and expand digital service centers." "In Israel, the ministry recently published the 'Service Quality Index 2020', which compares the quality of services provided by telecommunications companies to consumers and allows everyone to choose which telecommunications company to connect on the basis of service quality and not just price."