PTCL - Hello to the Corruption!

If you have been a loyal customer of a certain service provider for 8 to 10 years, what would you expect? Better customer service and care? A discount? Or at least, an uninterrupted decent service at the market price as promised. However, some companies find a way to go beyond your expectations and disappoint you in ways you had never imagined!

Background

A few weeks back I was having a discussion with my grandfather regarding the internet service of Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL), the so-called “leading telecommunication company” in Pakistan. He complained about the routine interruptions and the slow speed of the internet service provided by PTCL. I was not at all surprised to hear about the interruptions in service since we are all used to them as PTCL customers. Still, in order to improve the internet speed, I advised him to upgrade to the PTCL 4Mbps Unlimited package I was using. But since he did not need ‘unlimited volume,’ he asked me to check for a different option. Thus, I went to the PTCL website to check for other packages and that is when I found out that I was being charged a special price for being a ‘loyal customer.’

“Broadband Packages Costs Advertised” vs “Amount Actually Charged to Customers”

I was completely shocked when I noticed the stark contrast between the broadband packages cost advertised on PTCL website here and the amount actually being charged to me. On the PTCL website, the most expensive broadband package costs Rs. 1,775/- per month. However, I am being charged Rs. 2,100/- per month for the EXACT same package, an extra amount of Rs. 325/- per month (Rs. 373/- per month with 14.8% tax charged). And this is not something that happened in one odd month! You can see below in the PTCL invoice sent to me for the billing month of March 2017, under the ‘Billed/Paid History’ box, that I have been charged the same price Rs. 2,100/- per month for broadband for many months.

But that’s not all! As I am using VOICE and SMART TV services from PTCL as well, I have given them more ways to exploit and rip me off. After spending some more time on the PTCL website I found out that the “4 Mbps Triple Play Bundle” which is basically a bundle of the EXACT SAME services I am using from PTCL. This price of this bundle is advertised as Rs. 2,250/- per month compared to Rs. 2,849/- per month (excluding other call charges) that I am being charged. Comparing the two prices above, I am being charged an extra amount of Rs. 599/- per month (Rs. 688/- per month with 14.8% tax charged).

The PTCL ‘Justifications’

I have written a detailed account of my communication with PTCL customer service representatives here. I will just mention the main points below. The explanation given was that ‘PTCL gave a promotional offer and only those who took the offer are being charged lower prices.’ Later on, I asked this guy: “Are all your old PTCL customers paying Rs. 2,100/- per month for the 4Mbps Unlimited package?” and he replied: “Yes exactly, they are paying 2,100/- per month for this package.” These are the exact words except that they have been translated from Urdu to English. Before, he had claimed that PTCL offered a promotion and only those who availed it were charged less but now he changed his statement by saying ALL old customers are paying the higher amount for this package.

After arguing some more, I asked: “Why don’t you change the charges of the customers who are still paying Rs. 2,100/- per month to Rs. 1,775/- per month?” The only response I got to this multiple times was just we are aware of this and “we are working on this.”

PTCL Corruption in Numbers

I have written in detail about the what assumptions I used and how I calculated the numbers here. I will just briefly talk about it below. If we assume that 20% of the 1.48 million DSL broadband subscribers (by the end of July 2015) of PTCL are customers who are both using 4Mbps Unlimited Package and are being charged an excess amount of Rs. 325/- per month, then it can be estimated that PTCL is earning an excess revenue of Rs. 110.4/- million per month. If we assume that they earned excess revenue at the same rate during the first quarter of 2017 as well, then this amount is approximately 1.15% of the total revenue of PTCL for Q1 17.

What to do Now?

• Go to this link and check if you are being charged a higher price compared to the prices advertisted on the PTCL website
• If you are being charged an excessive price, then email PTCL at [email protected] and call them on +92-42-35220535 and ask them to immediately change your package to the lower priced one for the EXACT same service! Furthermore ask them for a refund for charging you excess price in the previous months. If you want to use the same email I sent them just drop me a message
• If you are not being charged an excessive price, you can inform your family, relatives and friends about it. I am sure many of them are being charged a higher price as well
• Spread the word as much as possible! Share the article on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. Use the #PTCLcorruption hashtag

Conclusion

To be honest, I am not hoping to get any refund from PTCL. However, I feel we should speak up when we notice/experience such incidents of corporations misusing their monopoly power to exploit customers! That is why I have written this article. I want to inform the unaware loyal customers of PTCL that they are being exploited. Furthermore, I want to send out a message to PTCL and all corporations who regularly exploit their customers that we won’t tolerate such corrupt practices in the future!

As is written on the PTCL invoice itself we should indeed “SAY NO TO CORRUPTION!”

#PTCLcorruption