TELECOMMUNICATIONS CONSUMER RIGHTS AND PROTECTION DIRECTIVE WHEREAS it is crucial to ensure that the rights and interests of Consumers of Telecommunications Services are protected, including their rights to information, privacy, safety, choice, redress, and qualitative products and services; RECOGNIZING that a regulatory regime is needed to enforce the protection of consumer rights and interests, as well as to promote investment, encourage competition, and ensure high quality information and Communications Services; REALIZING the need to require Licensees of the Authority to establish a Code of Conduct that specifies the rights of Consumers; COGNIZANT of the need to investigate and adjudicate consumer Complaints and ensure that decisions are made promptly, and in an equitable, non‐discriminatory, consistent, and transparent manner; NOW, THEREFORE, the Ethiopian Communications Authority hereby issues this Consumer Rights and Protection Directive in accordance with Articles 6(2), 6(14), 50(1) and 54(2) of the Communications Service Proclamation No. 1148/2019. PART ONE GENERAL 1. Short Title This Directive may be cited as the “Telecommunications Consumer Rights and Protection Directive No. 832/2021”. 2. Definitions In this Directive, unless the context otherwise requires: 1) “Authority” shall mean the Ethiopian Communications Authority established under Article 3 of the Proclamation. 2) “Code of Conduct” means a set of rules outlining the norms, rules, and responsibilities of, and proper practices of Telecommunications Operators as provided in the Proclamation. 3) “Complaint” or “Claim” means a formal written or electronically submitted statement of any allegation of the breach of the rights of a claimant. 4) “Confidentiality” shall mean maintaining the secrecy of information and transactions in order to prevent unauthorized disclosure of information to nonrecipients allowing the reading, listening, illicit copying of intentional or accidental origin during their storage, processing or transfer. 5) “Consent” shall mean any freely given specific, informed and unambiguous indication of the wishes of a Consumer, either by a statement or a clear affirmative action, by which he signifies his agreement to Personal Data relating to him being processed. 1