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By ADRIAN STEWART CO
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Wednesday, March 8, 2017
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MANILA – Subscribers of prepaid phone will soon not have problems with their unused loads as the House of Representatives is pushing for the removal of expiration date on prepaid loads.
Quezon City representative Winston Castello said his proposed measure Prepaid Load Protection Act aims to “disallow the unjust forfeiture of load credits not used by subscribers on their prepaid call and text cards.”
“While the use of prepaid call and text card is convenient because it allows subscribers to spend according to their needs, it is subject to an expiry date, wherein unused credits are forfeited upon such time regardless of the amount,” Castelo said.
“This creates an unfair situation, where customers who have paid for the telecommunication networks’ services do not get the full value of the money they spent,” he added.
Castelo also noted the numerous complaints from prepaid load consumers regarding “missing” or forfeited loads due to expiration. He also called on National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) has a policy supporting the unfair practice.
The NTC, through its Memorandum Circular 03-07-2009, provides a schedule of rates and their corresponding periods of validity, wherein prepaid loads of higher value have longer validity periods.
“Such is unabashedly anti-poor and inequitable as it favors more affluent users as against poorer customers, who are quickly deprived of their right to use the services they have paid for,” Castelo said.
In 2014, the NTC and the country’s telecommunication companies has rejected a proposed bill by Sen. Ralph Recto that sought to ban expiration dates on cellular phone loads and forfeiture of unused load credits of prepaid subscribers.
The telcos and the NTC then said expiration dates of load credits are needed, as each dormant subscriber identity module occupies a space in the network and entails cost for the telecommunication firms./PN
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