A store in Hamra sells phone credit. (Credit: Rasha El Fnek)
BEIRUT — Touch (known as MTC Touch) subscribers with a postpaid line have complained after receiving this month's phone invoices being charged their June bills at the new prices, which came into effect on July 1. However, a source at Touch explained to L’Orient Today on Thursday that is not the case.
Here’s what we know:
• On Friday, in its final session before entering caretaker mode, cabinet voted to raise telecom prices. According to the new prices, the previous telecommunication dollars, which were calculated at LL1,507.5 against the dollars, would be divided by three, then multiplied by Banque du Liban’s Sayrafa rate which stands today at LL25,400 against the dollar. For example, a $50 bill would have been LL75,000 before July 1, and LL423,000 after the tariffs came into effect.
• Following the implementation of the new decision, many Touch customers protested June’s bill, which was calculated at the Sayrafa rate, a stark increase from previous months. However, a source at Touch explained to L’Orient Today that the fixed monthly charges usually get paid in advance and thus are calculated on the new prices. The source also said that the postpaid line bills which are calculated according to someone’s calls and texts would naturally be paid the month after. “I think people weren’t aware of these divisions and hence why the confusion happened,” the source said.
• Earlier today, Telecommunication Minister Johnny Corm told Megaphone news outlet that he had “asked both companies to postpone the fixed-line fee payment until the end of the month, and to establish a mechanism to restore the amounts withdrawn or due to be withdrawn from citizens to their balances, instead of billing fixed-line fees according to the old formula.” However later that day, a spokesperson for Corm told L’Orient Today that he withdrew his decision later because it is “logistically impossible.” Corm also told Megaphone that “Alfa users will encounter the same problem, as the company is set to bill its subscribers tomorrow.”