Jazz, the country’s largest cellular mobile operator, recently imposed a late payment fee (LPF) of 5% of postpaid customers’ total bill or Rs50, whichever is greater. Interestingly, Telenor and Ufone do not include such a fee in their fee schedule.
The move was justified as an attempt to encourage subscribers to pay their postpaid bills on time. Official sources at Ufone and Telenor confirmed that neither company currently plans to implement such an additional fee. Zong’s official source did not respond to the inquiry.
Jazz’s LPF terms state that a customer paying an average monthly bill of Rs 3,000 will be charged Rs150 for late payment. Similarly, those who pay an Rs 2,000 postpaid bill after the due date will be charged Rs100 LPF.
Customers who pay their monthly bill of Rs 1,500 will be charged an additional Rs75 for late payment. Customers with a monthly bill of Rs 1,000 or less will be charged Rs50 for late payment.
The local cellular mobile industry appears to be the only sector that does not charge late payment fees on services, as all utilities, including gas, electricity, landline, and banks, have historically charged 10% LPF.
The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), the country’s sole telecommunications regulator, has yet to take notice of the development.
However, LPF is a practice observed by cellular mobile operators worldwide, including Verizon, Jio, Vodafone Idea, T-Mobile, and others. When one operator introduces such initiatives, other CMOs usually follow suit.
According to sources, the telecom company’s action may be an attempt to offset costs or losses. It should be noted that cellular mobile operators have been complaining about an unprecedented increase in the cost of their operations.
Jazz reported a 12.1 percent decrease in revenue in dollar terms during the second quarter of 2022, primarily due to currency depreciation.
According to the company, the company’s margins were also hampered by an exponential increase in operational costs such as fuel, electricity, interest, and forex rates.
Telenor Pakistan, on the other hand, reported a Rs42 billion operating loss in 1HCY22, compared to a Rs12 billion profit in the same period last year.
The Pakistan Telecommunications Company Limited (PTCL) also suffered a net loss of over Rs3 billion in 1HCY22, compared to a net profit of around Rs3 billion in the same half-year period last year.
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