Ensuring Compliance with Consumer Protection Norms in Mobile Telephony Services

In 2023, the MCA conducted a mystery shopping study, subscribing to a mobile post-paid plan from each of Malta’s three mobile providers to evaluate the compliance of local mobile providers to consumer protection norms. This study highlighted several shortcomings, which were subsequently referred to the respective providers for corrective action. After allowing time for improvements, the MCA repeated the exercise in 2024 to assess improvements in compliance with consumer protection measures. This report presents the findings from the MCA's study, highlighting key insights from the 2023 and 2024 mystery shopping exercises, the identified shortcomings, and the actions taken by providers to address these issues.