MANILA – Beginning Sunday, July 19, mobile phone subscribers will already enjoy longer prepaid load validity.
This as cellular network companies yield to a recent National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) order extending the shelf life of prepaid credits.
The NTC issued the order in response to continued public clamor for greater protection of consumers against what were said to be “abusive” practices of network providers. Severalconsumer advocacy groups have complained about disappearing load credits, illegal charges collected from and passed on to subscribers, as well as unsolicited spam messages.
Some mobile phone firms earlier contested the NTC’s order, saying the extension of the expiration of prepaid loads would eat up into their capacity and increase their cost.
source: http://abs-cbnnews.com/business/07/14/09/longer-phone-load-validity-starts-july-19
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MANILA, Philippines—Starting July 19, the shelf life of cellular phone credits will be “tripled,” with the prepaid load of P10 or less extended to three days and the load of more than P300 stretched to four months, the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) announced Tuesday.
On the prodding of the Senate, the NTC also announced that effective July 23 unsolicited “text spam” or promotional text messages would be prohibited.
The NTC action came in the wake of the uproar over “disappearing loads” caused by Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile’s complaint of “vanishing load” in his prepaid account.
Consumer rights advocates have long criticized this practice of telecommunication companies (telcos).
The commission earlier justified its years of inaction, saying that a temporary restraining order (TRO) issued by a Quezon City judge had blocked an NTC memo that set the guidelines on billing statements, sale and use of prepaid cards, and interconnection agreements.
Investigate judge
At the resumption Tuesday of the Senate hearing, Enrile, who initiated the probe of the disappearing loads, said he would ask the Supreme Court
to investigate the Quezon City judge who issued the TRO eight years ago.
“The Senate president will write the Chief Justice and ask through him to discipline this judge and learn why the case has not moved for eight years,” Enrile said.
“We will also write the Judicial and Bar Council that the Senate will object to the promotion of that judge,” the Senate President said.
The office of Sen. Mar Roxas identified the judge as Vivencio S. Baclig, presiding judge of Branch 77 of the Quezon City Regional Trial Court.
At the hearing, NTC Commissioner Ruel V. Canobas said telcos had already agreed to the NTC decision to extend the shelf life of cell phone loads.
Expiration list
P10 to P50 load: 15 days
more than P50 to P100: 30 days
more than P100 to P250: 60 days
more than P250 to P300: 75 days
