Providers agree to stop sending promotional messages

JAKARTA. Bowing to pressure from the Indonesian Telecommunications Regulatory Body (BRTI), 10 cellular service providers, all members of the Indonesian Cellular Phone Provider Association (ATSI), agreed on Monday to stop broadcasting short message service (SMS), pop-ups and voice messages containing promotions ordered by content provider companies.

BRTI has instructed cellular service providers to stop promoting content provider services through broadcast messages, saying it could lead to unauthorized transactions that could inflict losses on customers.

ATSI chairman Sarwoto Atmosutarno said that customers who received broadcast messages after Tuesday could file complaints to the BRTI office or providers’ call centers.

“We will take every complaint seriously. I ask our customers not to hesitate to file complaints if they still get such messages,” said Sarwoto, who is also the CEO of Telkomsel.

He said that such promotional messages could lead to the unfair siphoning of phone credit because customers might forget to unsubscribe to extra services after their period had expired.

“In fact, not all customers really understand the premium short message services. Sometimes they accidently subscribe. When they want to unsubscribe, they don’t know how to do it,” Sarwoto said.

“In the future, we should create a better registration method. We must seek to ensure that customers who subscribe to content providers are those who really want them.”

BRTI issued a directive against cellular service providers to offer content from third parties following an outcry from consumers who complained that they were being charged for services that they did not order.

BRTI previously said all operators should temporarily deactivate services for content provider companies.

“On early Tuesday, we want all databases cleared,” BRTI member Heru Sutadi said. “Customers can register themselves again if they want to.”

Heru said that BRTI would consider revoking the permits of content providers if they were found guilty of inappropriately charging customers.

“We will impose severe punishments if we still find them conducting illegal transactions and siphoning customers’ phone credit,” he said.

Sarwoto warned against shutting down content provider companies.

“Content providers are still important. We should see them as a new way to get the best out of the technology,” he said.

BRTI has also ordered cellular service providers to reimburse customers for lost phone credits.

XL head of corporate communications Febriari Nadira said that her company had paid customers for their losses. “We will likely do it again if our examinations show that our customers’ phone credits have been exploited,” she said.

Telkomsel said it paid out approximately Rp 300 million (US$33,900) every month to pay back customers for credit that was unduly charged.

The Jakarta Police said they would question the management of a TV station that advertised content provider services on a quiz show, in response to a complaint by Mohamad Feri Kuncoro, a customer who claimed that his phone credit had been unfairly deducted.

“We will meet with the TV station management to ask them about the premium content that it carries,” Jakarta Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Baharudin Djafar said. (The Jakarta Post)