Rise in subscription fees for personal prepaid mobile lines draws consumers’ ire

AMMAN — The Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (TRC) met with three mobile network operator companies on Monday to look into price changes related to the subscription fees for personal prepaid mobile lines. 

Customers of one mobile network operator company in Jordan recently submitted complaints to the TRC after receiving text messages informing them of an increase in subscription fees equal to JD1 in return for upgrading their Internet bundles. 

Some took to social media platforms expressing their outrage over this decision, describing it as “sudden” and “unjustified”.

Facebook user Mahmoud Nash’at wrote that his subscription fees increased from JD7 to JD8. He explained that this means he will have to pay JD11.25 per month instead of JD9.75, after adding taxes. 

Mamoun, another Facebook user, felt that it was unfair to enforce a price increase for an upgrade he didn’t request or consent to. “The original Internet bundle is good enough for me,” he wrote.

In a statement issued last Wednesday, the TRC directed the concerned companies to suspend these changes, warning that they’re in violation of the commission’s “directives and instructions”. 

Speaking with The Jordan Times, Director of the Directorate of Economic Affairs at the TRC, Muwaffaq Al Qadi, noted that although the law allows telecommunication companies to increase their prices, that should be done in coordination with the TRC. 

Article 53 of the Telecommunications Law No. 13 of 1995 allows companies to increase the prices of their services, provided that they inform their customers one month in advance by publishing the new prices in two daily local newspapers. It also requires companies to inform the TRC of any price changes. 

The three concerned telecommunications companies did abide by these stipulations and they informed the TRC of their intention to increase the subscription fees by JD1 in return for adding 5 to 7 gigabytes in Internet bundles, according to Qadi. 

However, some companies implemented these changes while the commission was still in the process of studying the justifications behind them, he noted. 

The concerned companies promised to rectify the situation after the TRC expressed its disapproval of their decision during the meeting on Monday, he added. 

Qadi also pointed out that the commission sent official letters on Tuesday to the three companies directing them to reevaluate the changes in subscription plans. The companies are expected to respond by Thursday evening.

He said that the TRC recommended applying the increase, if it proved to be necessary, to new subscribers only.