Telcos need to be more lenient with their customers during the MCO

Malaysia is now in the third phase of the Movement Control Order (MCO) and many of us have been cooped up in our homes for a little over five weeks not only working, video conferencing and learning but also shopping and entertaining ourselves over the internet. At times like this the internet and phone line, hence our telco services, have become a critical essential.

However, The Consumers’ Association of Penang (CAP) has received a complaint from a consumer stating that Telekom Malaysia (TM) had disconnected their service, and it was only later they found out it was because they had gone over their credit limit.

We believe that telcos should be more lenient with things like credit limits and bill due dates in this time of need. 

Besides utilities like water and electricity, the telcos that provide internet and phone connectivity are the most essential service that the rakyat need right now. Never have so many people been on the internet at once, not just in Malaysia but all over the world. Any person would have most likely utilised more than their average internet usage and made more phone calls than usual during the MCO period, thus it is no wonder that it is so easy to go over the credit limit.

CAP asks that the Communications and Multimedia Minister Saifuddin Abdullah and all the major telecommunication companies work out a way to be more lenient with consumers in terms of credit limits and telco bills. At a time where we are forced to stay indoors, it would be detrimental to have the only thing connecting us to the outside world be taken away, the internet is a lifeline for many at this critical moment.  

 

Letter to the Editorr, 18 April 2020