CONGRESS was asked to frontload passage of remedial legislation removing expiry dates on the validity of prepaid load credits for phone calls and Internet services.
Once enacted into law, Senate Bill 365, embodying the proposed Prepaid Load Forever Act, will prohibit public telecommunications entities (PTEs) and information and communication technologies (ICT) Internet service providers from imposing an expiration date on the validity period of prepaid load credits, regardless of the amount involved, unless fully consumed.
In a statement over the weekend, Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian, its principal author, called on lawmakers to “have the bill seeking to lift the validity period of prepaid load credits for phones and Internet services tackled in the Senate.”
Gatchalian pointed out that “the harsh reality in this era of coronavirus pandemic is that we rely on ICT in our daily life,” stressing that “for those with limited resources, every peso counts.”
The forfeitureof unused prepaid load credits due to an expiration period “is somehow unconscionable under the current situation,” he said. “That is unwarranted as subscribers should be made to consume the load credits and avail themselves of the services they have paid for.”