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October 20, 2005
Indonesian government moves to protect phone users
According to a report by the Jakarta Post, Indonesian government is taking steps to protect mobile and fixed line users from what it calls "unfair billing."
Mobile users have complained that they were being charged for receiving SMS messages that they did not ask for. Recently, a group of consumers of telecommunications firm PT Telkom complained they had been charged Rp 2,000 for a service they never received.
Billing complaints over telecommunications services are common as the industry grows. The new regulation to be issued will deal with customers who have been billed for unasked for services.
Among the features to be regulated are voice mail box, call forwarding, call waiting, three party calling, abbreviated dialing, detail billing and ringtone services.
Operators will be required to familiarize consumers on their service charges for a period of at least one month, during which they must cease the applicable services.
The features can again be made available after the Telecommunications Regulatory Body (BRTI) is informed of the service contracts made with the customers.
There were 40 million cellular subscribers as of September 2005 in Indonesia.
Posted by admin at October 20, 2005 09:12 AM