Transparency International Pakistan has received a complaint against a cellular company which alleges that one particular company is unlawfully charging monthly Rs 2 plus 19.5 percent GST on account of use of SMS Service. The complainant has claimed that the SMS Service is mandatory of all license issued by PTA for every cellular company, and not being charged by any other phone companies which confirms that the prudent cellular service practice does not allow such additional fee.
The complainant has said that due to this illegal charge this company has charged consumers upto this month over Rs 30 billion. Transparency International Pakistan is of the view that this act is against Section 8 of Telecom Consumer Protection Regulations 2009, "Commercial Practice", as all other cellular companies are not charging consumers any monthly charges for SMS Service. The users are charged and paying cost for each SMS sent by them. The alleged illegal charge for SMS service by one company if allowed to continue, may also result in allowing it in future to charge fee for the receipt of every SMS, or even for phone calls, etc.
Being a regulator, and a licence-issuing authority it is the duty of PTA to protect consumers rights. Transparency International Pakistan has asked PTA to confirm the nature and scope of terms of cellular license issued to this company, and to the other four companies.