PTA and customer awareness

The Pakistan Telecomm-unications Authority yesterday published the updated version of its Tariff Awareness Guide. The Guide contains essential information for telecom subscribers regarding applicable taxes and tariffs; informs them of their and the operators rights with regards to tariff packages, and conveys remedial measures should they feel the operator has not fulfilled its responsibility. Perhaps the most important highlight in the PTAs Guide is that there will be no downward revision in the GST rate for telecom sector, which many had believed would be the case following the FY13 federal budget announcement. Thus, it will remain a "taxes as usual" scenario for telecom subscribers. The existing taxation regime in the industry is blowing a hole in consumers pockets, as the PTA Guide illustrates that the telecom subscribers lose nearly a third of their prepaid airtime on account of taxes and operator charges. The Guide informs that apart from the GST of 19.5 percent on service usage (collected in FED mode), the government also deducts upfront a 10 percent WHT on account reloads. If that weren enough, the mobile network operators and several WLL operators levy additional service charges on reload of pre-paid accounts. All the MNOs levy five percent of service charges on the face value of all recharges through easy loads and scratch cards, except for Telenor which charges seven percent. On top of that, the MNOs charge another two percent of the recharge value in the name of account maintenance or operational fees. Telenor already has this two percent charge covered in its seven percent service charges. These operator fees are once more subjected to GST, received from the customer. It is ironic that the prepaid customers also have to pay for their calls to the operators "help" lines. The rising service charges & operators fees are a concern, yet the other side of the story is also telling! With voice tariffs kissing the floor and limited avenues to boost revenues, the power outages have made things more difficult for operators. To keep their towers up & running and to meet the QoS requirements, the operators have had a hard time. Raising tariffs is not an option, so they opt to levy service charges. Inquisitive subscribers will find the PTAs Guide very informative. For instance, the Guide illuminates that "no tariff change can be implemented without providing a prior notice of seven days to the consumers". Moreover, a complainants first point of contact is the operator concerned. If unresolved, the subscriber has recourse to the PTA to lodge the complaint. The Guide can really help inform the unsuspecting public, but some issues need the regulators attention. The Guide is available on the regulators website in English language only. Small, crisp advertorials and infomercials, preferably in Urdu, can reach out to a larger audience. Moreover, a single, centralized complaint management system may help provide remedies better & faster than the current process. In addition, the telecom watchdog must address the issue of spamming, which is of serious concern to subscribers. PTA needs to get tough with institutional spammers - which include not only the telemarketing companies, but also the MNOs themselves - who keep flooding the subscribers with their promotions and campaigns.