Telcos told: Don’t collect fees for services not rendered

CEBU, Philippines —  Cebu City Councilor Nestor Archival is calling on telecommunication companies whose services had been interrupted due to Typhoon Odette to consider adjusting billing and payments to its subscribers.

"Atol sa bagyo, nawala man gyud ang mga connection sa network. Nahunong gyud ang service so dapat maminusan na ang bill,” said Archival.

Archival noted that it took some time before connections were back. Even up to this day, there is still a big problem with connectivity.

With this, Archival is hoping that telcos will not charge subscribers in the duration of time that services were cut off.

“Luoy man gud kaayo ang mga tawo nga wala kagamit sa ilang mga internet connection pero magbayad gihapon. It’s not fair,” said Archival.

Archival also asked telco representatives to appear before the City Council in their next session regarding billing and payments.

Aside from that, the City Council is also expected to be apprised of the latest development efforts in the restoration of lines in the city.

Some telco representatives met with Mayor Michael Rama earlier but they were not part of the management team so Archival’s concern was not included in the discussion.

Councilor Gerry Guardo who is the City Council’s chairman on technical infrastructure said telcos are also dependent on Visayan Electric’s actions.

The Visayan Electric, Guardo said, has already given the go signal to do what they need to do to restore connections in households. — Sanden J. Anadia, GMR (FREEMAN)