BTRC Toughens Telecom Services Regulation In Bangladesh

The BTRC yesterday issued a fresh set of directives to
telecom operators, laying out instructions on service and tariff for
protecting the interest of consumers.

The directives included
restrictions against the use of ambiguous and alluring language for
promotional campaigns, auto-renewal of different packages, and the
discarding of unused data for consequent charging intervals.

The
directive, signed by BTRC’s Systems & Services Division Director Lt
Col Mohammad Zulfikar, mentioned that if any SIM was found to be unused
for two years, the operators could sell it in due process.

According
to the directive by Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission,
in designing a product or an offer, mobile companies have to avoid
using addictive elements that are likely to lure the consumers to
indulge in irrational or unnecessary heavy usage or recharge.

Promotional
offers would also not be allowed to use words like “best,” “highest”
and “first,” according to the guideline. The directive also said the
bonus of any promotional offer, like talk-time, SMS, MMS or data volume,
would have to be reasonably consumable within the stipulated time.

From
now on, mobile phone operators will also have to clearly mention about
sponsorships if they offer any third-party products to their subscriber
and the offer should not look like the mobile company’s own offer.

The
BTRC also directed operators to stop default auto-renewal feature of
different data (internet) and value added services, as the subscribers
often take those services without having knowledge of such features.

The
BTRC said a mobile company could never provide auto-renewal features in
any offer without the cognitive consent of the subscribers. For
auto-renewal of a service or offer, the mobile companies must obtain
permission from the subscriber for every charging period, the regulator
said.

In the directive, the BTRC also mentioned minimum validity
of recharge Tk10 for minimum 10 days and Tk1,000 and above for 360
days.