Cama takes Airtel and TNM to Macra over network woes

Dropped calls, slow data, delayed mobile money transfers and unexplained data losses have prompted a formal complaint from the consumer body.

Anyone who has tried to send money on a bad day knows the frustration.

Now the Consumers Association of Malawi (Cama) is taking that frustration to the regulator.

In a letter to the Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (Macra), the group has raised concerns about deteriorating network quality on Airtel Malawi and TNM.

What Cama is complaining about

The list is long. Cama cites dropped calls, poor data connectivity, and delays on mobile money services, including Mo626, Airtel Money and Mpamba transactions.

It also points to data depletion that customers cannot explain.

For consumers, the delays are more than an inconvenience. Cama says they are causing real financial losses.

The legal angle

Cama goes further than customer grumbling. It says the problems could breach the Communications Act and the Quality of Service Guidelines, the rules that set out what operators must deliver. That shifts the conversation from complaints to compliance.

What Cama wants Macra to do

The association has asked the regulator to take three steps:

Publish operators’ performance reports, so customers can see how networks are actually doing.

Carry out independent drive tests, which measure coverage and quality on the ground rather than relying on the operators’ own figures.

Impose penalties where violations are found.

What happens next

Neither Airtel Malawi nor TNM has responded publicly to the letter in the report, and Macra’s response is yet to be seen.

If the regulator publishes the performance data Cama is asking for, it could give customers the first clear picture of which network is failing them and where.

Until then, the people paying for the data bundles and the mobile money fees are left waiting, and hoping the next transfer goes through.

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