Anatel advisor says that increase requires attention, especially for the topics that have grown the most, such as cancellation and billing
A balance released this week by Anatel (National Telecommunications Agency) shows that, after a period of successive drops since 2019, the number of records of customer dissatisfaction has increased.
According to the “2025 Complaints Panorama” report ( – PDF – 837 kB), there were 1,354,791 complaints, which represents an increase of 6.91% compared to 2024, when 1,267,189 complaints were received. Even with the increase, the Complaints Index per 1,000 subscribers (0.38%) is the 3rd lowest in the last 10 years.
All records are made in the Anatel Consumidor system, through the official service channels: 1331 (call center), application, website and Citizen Room. At the beginning of 2025, Anatel began offering society another communication channel: WhatsApp, accessible via the number 0800 61 0 1331.
“Since 2019, complaints at Anatel have been showing significant drops, with responsive action being an important tool for quickly resolving consumer problems. The increase in 2025 requires attention from the agency, especially for the topics that grew the most, such as cancellation (19.4%) and billing (13.6%)”said councilor Octavio Pieranti.
“It is also important to highlight the 9.3% drop in complaints about quality of services and repairs, which demonstrates greater stability and quality of networks”he declared.
Anatel’s Consumer Relations Superintendent, Cristiana Camarate, said that the increase in complaints registered in 2025 interrupts a downward cycle and that the agency will take action.
“Complaints are a very important thermometer for choosing Anatel’s focus of activity. We identified, for example, an increase in complaints about fixed broadband cancellation for the 2nd consecutive year, increasing 29.01% in 2025, including for small providers”he stated.
“In view of this, Anatel will open regulatory inspection processes to adjust the conduct of 4 companies in this segment. Large companies will undergo inspection for possible sanctioning”, these.
Postpaid and TV are rising
The increase in complaints was mainly driven by postpaid cell phone services (+14.8%) and pay TV (+12.6%). There was also an increase in complaints about fixed broadband services (+6.5%) and prepaid cell phones (+0.2%). The fixed telephone service showed a decrease, with a 15.8% reduction in complaints in 2025.
The report also presents the reasons why consumers contact Anatel to register a complaint. It was found that most of the most complained about subjects showed an increase in the number of records.
In absolute terms, the topics “Billing”, “Cancellation” and “Service plan, offer, bonuses, promotions and advertising messages” were those that had the biggest increase in complaints compared to 2024. Conversely, “Quality, operation and repair” was the set of topics that showed the biggest reduction.
For Cristiana Camarate, the increase in complaints related to billing is “quite relevant”. She said that Anatel has a specific inspection process for this topic.
“We understand that the charging issue is directly related to transparency and supply problems, which is the main theme of the new RGC [Regulamento Geral de Direitos do Consumidor]. Therefore, we also structured a specific inspection process to monitor these points”he declared.
Operators x complaints
When analyzing which operators were the target of complaints and the reasons for these complaints, the number of records varies according to the service offered:
- fixed broadband – the service reached its peak of complaints in the last 4 years, with 28,600 additional complaints. The movement was driven by Claro (+18,000) and the providers Oi and Nio (+23,500, combined);
- Pay TV – the 12.6% increase was concentrated in Claro groups (+21.2%) and in the transition of Oi TV customers to its buyer, Mileto (+35.4%). Sky stood out positively, with an 18.9% reduction in complaints;
- fixed telephony – maintaining a decade-long trend, the service showed a reduction in the volume of complaints (-15.8%). The exception was Vivo, which registered an increase of 6,800 complaints, focused on quality and repair problems;
- postpaid cell phone – the service interrupted the downward trend observed since 2020. With an increase of 14.8%, the growth was spread among the large economic groups, with emphasis on Tim (+30,100) and Claro (+14,300). In the case of Tim, the 46.5% increase (+25,500) in complaints about billing stands out. The most critical problems reported by users were billing in disagreement with the contract (+8,500 complaints) and improper collection of fines for loyalty (+4,100 complaints in relation to 2024);
- prepaid cell phone – showed slight growth of 0.2% (+408 registrations), interrupting the cycle of reductions since 2021. Claro recorded the biggest increase (+1,400), while Vivo showed the biggest reduction (-1,200). The topic “Blocking, unlocking or suspension” led in terms of volume (55,300) of complaints, while the biggest increase was in “Services and offers plan” (+2,400). On the other hand, complaints about quality and credit fell.
Forwarding
Cristiana Camarate said that complaints received by the agency are forwarded to the aforementioned operators, who have up to 10 days to respond to what measures were adopted and how they served the consumer. If the consumer is not satisfied with the response, they can reopen the complaint at Anatel or evaluate the service received.
“This assessment is very important, as it allows Anatel to listen to the consumer and understand whether the process is, in fact, resolving. Furthermore, the agency uses complaint data to identify users’ main difficulties, thus being able to act through responsive regulation, change regulations when necessary and invest in consumer education”declared the Superintendent of Consumer Relations.
With information from .
