MANILA, Philippines - Prepaid credits of mobile phones – popularly known as “load" – will now have longer expiration dates after the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) issued new rules on Friday.
Under Memorandum Circular No. 03-07-2009, loads with higher values will have longer expiration or validity periods, the NTC said.
Credits worth P10 or lower will be valid for three days from the previous one-day expiration. Loads more than P10 up to P50 can be used for 15 days while credits worth more than P50 up to P100 will remain valid for 30 days.
Loads more than P100 to P150 will expire at the end of 45 days while credits of more than P150 to P250 will last for 60 days. More than P250 to P300 will remain valid for 75 days while credits worth more than P300 will last for 120 days.
These new rules will take effect 15 days after publication in newspapers.
Currently, a P10 load is only valid for a day while a P30 load can be used within three days. A P200 load will last for 30 days and P300 worth of credits can last for 60 days.
The credits’ validity will start upon confirmation receipt of prepaid load purchased, the NTC said.
Newly-purchased credits will be added to unused loads, thereby extending the validity of the total loads, the NTC added.
If a subscriber with an unused load of P20 buys P10 worth of new credits, the new validity period is 15 days, the NTC explained.
Accessing balance inquiry services through text messaging should be free of charge, the NTC said.
Nine years ago, the same agency issued Memorandum Circular 13-06-2000, which indicated that the expiry period of prepaid cards should not be less than two years.
The same memorandum also provides for the adoption of pulse charging – which are reportedly cheaper for subscribers – and the registration of each mobile phone’s SIM (subscriber identification module) card.
However, telecommunications companies have opposed the move and were successfully able to seek a court order that temporarily prevented its enforcement.
The case remains pending in a Quezon City court.
Also issued during the same day was a circular that tightened rules on disconnected call – or dropped call – rates to further protect consumers.
Under Memorandum Order 03-06-2009, only 2 dropped calls are allowed for every 100 calls from the previously allowed five dropped calls.
The same rules also indicate that an attempted call that is dropped before six seconds after the called party answers is not considered a call.
Blocked and dropped calls were caused by network congestion and system failure, the NTC said.
The regulator will also issue an order that will disallow “push" messages, which can be “commercial offerings, promotions, advertisements and surveys."
“Subscriptions or requests for contents and/or information shall be initiated by the subscribers," the NTC said, citing a draft circular.
Messages should be allowed only with prior consent from subscribers, it added.
Under the proposed circular, mobile phone companies will be required to keep records of all requests for contents and information from subscribers and should be forwarded to the commission upon request.
Since this year, 33 complaints regarding spam text messages have been filed against Globe Telecom Inc. while 69 were filed against Smart Communications Inc., data from the NTC indicated. All complaints were resolved.
Ten complaints of vanishing credits were submitted against Globe and six against Smart.
Last year, 136 complaints were filed against Smart, 77 for Globe, all of which were resolved.
During the same year, a dozen complaints against vanishing loads were submitted against Globe while 19 were filed against Smart.
The NTC will also issue a separate circular that will cut call rates.
Instead of charging calls by the minute, the circular will require mobile phone firms to charge on a per-second basis, an arrangement that will prevent consumers from paying for poor service and network congestion. - GMANews.TV
Under Memorandum Circular No. 03-07-2009, loads with higher values will have longer expiration or validity periods, the NTC said.
Credits worth P10 or lower will be valid for three days from the previous one-day expiration. Loads more than P10 up to P50 can be used for 15 days while credits worth more than P50 up to P100 will remain valid for 30 days.
Loads more than P100 to P150 will expire at the end of 45 days while credits of more than P150 to P250 will last for 60 days. More than P250 to P300 will remain valid for 75 days while credits worth more than P300 will last for 120 days.
These new rules will take effect 15 days after publication in newspapers.
Currently, a P10 load is only valid for a day while a P30 load can be used within three days. A P200 load will last for 30 days and P300 worth of credits can last for 60 days.
The credits’ validity will start upon confirmation receipt of prepaid load purchased, the NTC said.
Newly-purchased credits will be added to unused loads, thereby extending the validity of the total loads, the NTC added.
If a subscriber with an unused load of P20 buys P10 worth of new credits, the new validity period is 15 days, the NTC explained.
Accessing balance inquiry services through text messaging should be free of charge, the NTC said.
Nine years ago, the same agency issued Memorandum Circular 13-06-2000, which indicated that the expiry period of prepaid cards should not be less than two years.
The same memorandum also provides for the adoption of pulse charging – which are reportedly cheaper for subscribers – and the registration of each mobile phone’s SIM (subscriber identification module) card.
However, telecommunications companies have opposed the move and were successfully able to seek a court order that temporarily prevented its enforcement.
The case remains pending in a Quezon City court.
Also issued during the same day was a circular that tightened rules on disconnected call – or dropped call – rates to further protect consumers.
Under Memorandum Order 03-06-2009, only 2 dropped calls are allowed for every 100 calls from the previously allowed five dropped calls.
The same rules also indicate that an attempted call that is dropped before six seconds after the called party answers is not considered a call.
Blocked and dropped calls were caused by network congestion and system failure, the NTC said.
The regulator will also issue an order that will disallow “push" messages, which can be “commercial offerings, promotions, advertisements and surveys."
“Subscriptions or requests for contents and/or information shall be initiated by the subscribers," the NTC said, citing a draft circular.
Messages should be allowed only with prior consent from subscribers, it added.
Under the proposed circular, mobile phone companies will be required to keep records of all requests for contents and information from subscribers and should be forwarded to the commission upon request.
Since this year, 33 complaints regarding spam text messages have been filed against Globe Telecom Inc. while 69 were filed against Smart Communications Inc., data from the NTC indicated. All complaints were resolved.
Ten complaints of vanishing credits were submitted against Globe and six against Smart.
Last year, 136 complaints were filed against Smart, 77 for Globe, all of which were resolved.
During the same year, a dozen complaints against vanishing loads were submitted against Globe while 19 were filed against Smart.
The NTC will also issue a separate circular that will cut call rates.
Instead of charging calls by the minute, the circular will require mobile phone firms to charge on a per-second basis, an arrangement that will prevent consumers from paying for poor service and network congestion. - GMANews.TV
