Brazil's Lula Targets Time-wasting Call Centres

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva of Brazil has issued a new decree to improve customer service at call centers.

Under the new measure, call centers can only transfer a call once, cannot make a customer wait more than 2 minutes and must provide a confirmation number for every call. If a client wants a service canceled, the business or agency must oblige immediately.

Unless call centers comply with the new decree they will face fines from 201 reais (£64) to 3 million reais (£96m).

Lula's decree comes amid rampant consumer dissatisfaction with call centers in Latin America's largest economy.

Customers wanting to fix their phone line or close a bank account are often placed on hold interminably or are repeatedly transferred from one department to another without their problems being addressed.

Utilities, banks and some government agencies play pass the parcel with customers for days or weeks to avoid losing revenue, experts say.