Mobile phone operators have earned millions of rupees in the holy month of Ramazan by offering various packages to their customers, which magnetised the latter. Local market sources told Business Recorder on Tuesday: "These packages were part of a competition among the service providers who were bent upon increasing their earnings." sources said.
They said that Warid topped the package-offering list during Ramazan with incentives like "night-free package", "holy service," "load balance, get double after Ramazan" etc.
Ufone, owned by the Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL), also announced different packages to its customers, including "night-free calls," "load balance get double" etc Mobilink and Telenor also offered various packages to draw the attention of their customers.
"I entertained all facilities, provided by the Ufone during Ramazan, caring not about the deduction of balance," a customer said. He said that the "night package" was wonderful and now he was calling any of his friends during the night-time instead of day.
"Warid offered great packages during Ramazan to facilitate us and I would suggest that its night-free package should continue," said a customer. He said that as all of his family members, living in different part of the country, were using Warid, as it was economical for him to enjoy prolonged chatting.
Consumers of Mobilink and Telenor, hailing their respective service providers, demanded that they should continue the packages even after Ramazan. According to details, Mobilink has 27.82 million consumers, while Ufone has 15.33 million; Telenor: 11.98 million; Warid: 11.5 million; and Paktel: 10.35 million customers.
Sources said that the cell phone companies had been charging Rs 10 to Rs 25 for the shifting of packages as around 80 percent of the consumers had been changing their packages as per the new offers.
Similarly, the cellular phone users had to pay rupees five to Rs 10 whenever they intended to use any of the services offered by their respective phone operators. Meanwhile, hundreds of consumers were found complaining of irregularities like deduction of balance without availing of any service etc.
"I wanted to change my service, but despite repeated attempts, I could not be able to talk to the customer service officer," Aamir, a student of the Dawood Engineering College complained. Another college student complained that his balance was deducted without assigning the required "load balance get double" package.