Philippine Senator Sherwin Gatchalian urges its colleagues in the senate to start discussing Senate Bill No. 365, which seeks to end the expiry dates for prepaid internet and cellphone load.
Once passed, Senate Bill No. 365, or the Prepaid Load Forever Act, will prevent public telecommunications entities (PTEs) and information and communication technology (ICT) providers from imposing expiration dates on the validity period prepaid load credits.
Sen. Gatchalian, who filed the bill, argued that such a policy is unnecessary since subscribers should consume the load credits and services they have paid for.
Having the bill tackled as soon as possible is really important, especially in this latest era that we’re in. Sen. Gatchalian said that most Filipinos now rely on internet services more than ever. And for those who have limited resources, every peso counts.
Sen. Gatchalian also said that the expiration period policy is anti-consumer.
The Senate bill covers prepaid cards and electronic loads for voice calls, texts or short messaging system (SMS), mobile data, value-added services (VAS), and those load credits put to devices like tablets, WiFi dongles, and mobile hotspots that are meant for internet usage.
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The bill seeks to fine violators with Php100,000 up to Php2 million and imprisonment of two to six years. Businesses that will violate the rule may also face immediate revocation of their business license.
I hope this bill gets passed soon.
When you try so hard to save on credit so you can use the load wisely (and most especially for an emergency). Then you find out your credit has expired at the time you need it the most. You literally rage and cry inside….it felt the same as being robbed of your hard-earned money. Only you have no one to voice out your hurt.
Extremely depressing for most people who are on a very tight budget. For people who are looking for a job, waiting and hoping for a call from an employer.
PLDT, which a lot of people resent, greedily and continually try to monopolize tech industries which left consumers no other choice. For so long and for many decades people felt the injustice from this big tech company and felt helpless.
Senator Sherwin Gatchalian you are heaven-sent! We pray for you and your whole family to be blessed and protected by our God. You have shown a “maka-masa, maka-filipino na puso” and we are eternally grateful to you. You have our support and our vote for the next elections.
Hoping this would get passed. My load and SIM card expired without me knowing, and the biggest impact is that the number associated on that SIM is the one I’ve used for 2 Factor Verification. And GLOBE refused to reactivate my number even if I have proof that my SIM should not have expired because I reload it regularly. It was a very old SIM (about ten years old) which I’ve used as a retrieval number for some of my emails and I cannot login to my other mailboxes as a result. I have seen similar cases happening to other GLOBE users whose old SIM got expired even if they’re active. I suspect it’s because GLOBE is trying to recycle old phone numbers for their newly manufactured SIM cards. They’re expiring both active and inactive old SIMs.