Lawmakers want telcos probed for failing to refund subscribers P7B from overpriced SMS 

Telco executives might soon have to explain before Congress why they have yet to refund the 20 centavos they owe subscribers for text messages sent since December 2011 despite a long-standing order from the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC).

 

Two lawmakers are seeking a congressional inquiry into the failure of telcos to refund the P0.20 reduction in SMS rates to all their subscribers starting December 1, 2011, when the NTC ordered the companies to lower the cost of short message service (SMS) to “other networks” to 80 centavos from P1.

 

House Resolution 1116, filed by Bayan Muna representatives Carlos Isagani Zarate and Neri Colmenares, calls on the committee on information and communications technology to investigate the possible culpability of telcos for failing to refund what they owe their consumers over two years now.

 

“The telcos have refused to follow the order of the NTC since 2011, and we have received reports that every NTC initiative or order has been ignored by the telcos,” they said.

 

In Memorandum Circular 02-10-2011, the NTC ordered Ayala-led Globe Telecom as well as Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) units Smart Communications and Digital Mobile Phil. (Sun Cellular) to reduce their short message service (SMS) rate to “other networks” from P1 to P0.80 per text message.

 

Based on the NTC'c computation, the telcos owe subscribers P7 billion since 2 percent of the estimated two billion text messages sent daily – or 40 million text messages – were are not part of a “bucket pricing plan” or promo and were thus covered by the order.  

 

The 20-centavo refund translates to about P8 million in industry-wide refunds for each day for the last two years and five months, according to NRC computations.

 

Aside from refunding their subscribers, Globe, Smart and Sun would have to pay a daily fine of P200 for each day since December 2011 that they fail to heed the NTC order, the commission said.

 

Earlier this May, NTC came out with three separate orders directing the three mobile service providers – with finality – to heed its 2011 order.

 

Representatives of the telcos, however, said they will challenge before the Court of Appeals the legality of the NTC order.

 

Latest NTC data showed the PLDT Group registered 70.5 million subscribers as of end-March 2014, and Globe had 38.1 million subscribers as of end-December 2013. – VS, GMA News