A bill demanding that internet service providers (ISPs) refund customers in times of outages was passed into law via a majority vote, early Tuesday, on the third and final reading.
Dubbed the “Refund for Internet and Telecommunications Services Outages and Disruptions Act,” House Bill 9021 got 278 affirmative votes.
Speaker Martin Romualdez said that a “Stable internet [connection] is a human right now,” relating it to its many applications that make life generally better. But by highlighting that most internet connection is a paid service, he also claimed that “getting a refund for service failure is only just.”
Per the bill, public telecommunications entities (PTEs), including internet service providers (ISPs), must provide a refund credit to a consumer. Otherwise, adjust the customer’s bill commensurate to the duration of the service interruption. Essentially, the bill is demanding the PTEs offer a refund on a pro-rated basis.
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Meanwhile, the bill is also providing exemptions. Particularly, in cases when a service outage is announced, such as during scheduled maintenance, the PTE will not be liable to grant the affected consumers a refund.
Additionally, exemption of the law applies during instances of fortuitous events, which the bill defines as either an “act of God” or natural occurrences. For example, storms, typhoons, floods, earthquakes, etc.
Furthermore, instances such as the result of the “act of man” result in the exemption as well. Namely, man-made events such as riots, wars, strikes, theft, robbery, sabotage, deliberate destruction, cyberattacks, etc. Accidental damage to facilities due to third parties is also exempted as well.
Internet service providers who fail to comply with the proposed Act will face a penalty ranging from ₱50,000 to ₱200,00 per violation.