PTCL Launches New Packages OR Finds A New Way To Rip Us Off!
Cross Post From Green & White. Author: Mansoor Adenwala.
PTCL recently launched three brand new packages for its consumers. But where every other telco in the country is slashing its call rates and finding other ways to make money, PTCL has actually increased its rates! While almost brilliant in their design, the new packages can and will inflate your telephone bill quite a bit so be prepared for a hefty setback at the end of this month if you use your PTCL line at all.
Here’s how.
Before, each call used to cost Rs. 2. Even now, each call costs Rs. 2. But before, one call used to be for 5 minutes, before you were charged for another call. They have conveniently taken the call duration down to 2 minutes. Meaning that call charges per minute have increased by almost 150%! from 40 paisa’s per minute to 1 rupee.
And that’s not all. Sometime ago, off peak calls were metered at 1 hour! Meaning that you could talk for an hour for just Rs. 4. This went into effect after 4 PM all the way upto 7 AM. They’ve changed that, and now off peak calls are charged Rs. 2 again… but now only for 4 minutes and only between 9 PM to 8 AM.
This means an increase of 400% in per minute call charges, up from 0.06 paisa’s per minute to 0.25 paisas.
How’s that for a punch in the face? With electricity, wheat, oil and gas prices going up so.. basic telephony now follows suit.
By the way, the much criticized Pakistan package also got a little revamp, with its 5000 minutes monthly limit cut down down to 2500 minutes, essentially making these calls 100% more expensive. (You get half the value in Rs. 200 now than you did before).
Does this mean a new trend will start emerging in the telecom industry? Leading to higher call charges in the name of new packages?
P.S.
All existing users have again been ’shifted’ to the new packages automatically. So much for having a say in how we want to be served…
Created by Babar Bhatti, TelecomPk.Net is a leading source of information and analysis about Pakistan Telecom industry.
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PTCL is trying to play game with People of Pakistan since it is under UEA administration. PTCL is using indirect and wrong tactics to increase their charges. Now it has finished Local call of Rs 2.10 for 5 minutes and applied new cruel rate of Rs 2 per 2 minute call. Means whether you will call for a minute or less, you have to pay Rs 2 plus taxes. One more important thing is this that they never prints local calls detail in bill, means they will easily charge extra.
PTCL is not considering usage of Mobile in last few years for their marketing strategy. They are doing decisions in isolation and without comparing their charges with mobile companies packages plus wateen telecom fixed line package.
Mobile companies are charging between Rs 1.50 to Rs. 2.00 per minute on their prepaid packages. and also giving facility of friend & family numbers at Re. 1 per minute. No extra charges like line rent etc. Who will go for PTCL in this circumstances. Only those who are unable to operate mobiles or companies. which require landline for their offices and contacts. Means full time blackmailing. Don’t worry, soon we will find couple of other companies giving same fixed service. then PTCL will be no more.
PTCL: Shame on you and your strategies.
I see problem with PTA here - now i see PTA is a failed institution who is unable to regulate this all fuss. I’m waiting for the day when we’ll figure out it was part of the deal with Arabs and we are hidding it bcz. they have good rlations with both PPP & PML N (and they are not going to pull their legs on this).
Binary Zero, Its not problem with PPP and PMLN. Its was all dirt done by Musharraf and his regime. He made this agreement with UAE.
PTA has not failed either, PTA can’t regulate pricing tariff for any company. Obviously if one company has invested huge in PTClL then she has to generate profits from it. Question arrises that why Musharraf sold such profitable company in other country hands? even at one point they refused to buy it then Musharraf personally went to UAE to request their owners that please buy it at any cost. Why Musharraf sold only profitable companies of pakisatan. Thanks Allah, Steel Mills has left due to Supreme Court order to not sale it.
If you will sold out your strategic units to other countries then only peoples of Pakistan will suffer.
And people like you starts blaming others instead of real culprits. Amazing!
Where could I go and file complaint against such ridiculous offers, if PTA is a failed institution?
Previously, I used to think that in Pakistan we see that everything is getting expensive but telephony rates were getting lower. But now we have an elephant named PTCL, who is going to change the scenario and our telephony prices will go up too.
PTA has enough authority to put pressure on PTCL. PTA has taken some very good steps before. Usually it takes pressure form the public before PTA takes such steps.
For starter, PTCL should not be allowed to automatically switch subscribers to the new package. This was the directive and it should be implemented.
http://telecompk.net/2008/02/23/pta-asks-ptcl-to-stop-automatic-activation-of-pakistan-package/
in this scenario, i am reminded of Paktel. There was a time almost 5 years back when they started a Gold package, which had unlimited nighttime calling between 12 to 8 AM for just Rs. 10 a day.
Then they came up with new packages and came up with new ones, however, any and everyone on the Gold package remained on the gold package, until they switched themselves! Paktel sales rep would call up everyone and ask them to change, however paktel never *automatically* switched subscribers themselves.
Come to think of it, they had a lot more integrity, too bad they betted agains’t the wrong standard (TDMA) otherwise, given that it was a cable and wireless company, it would’ve been a strong contender in today’s market….
Are you doing any write ups about PTCL DSL complaints?
I’ve applied for it from the 6th of march and I still haven’t got any response from PTCL….and when I call 1236 all I get is, that your order is under progress… thats it… 1236 people say they don’t know why it is taking so long nor do they have any authority to do anything about it, they also say that there are other people with the same issues and the management is aware of it but I guess they over-promised and now cannot deliver. Also 1236 people ask to call DSL operators in exchanges or other people and when you ask for their numbers, they go.. get it from 17…..isn’t 1236 supposed to be the helpline? or am I missing something here? 1236 is a sham…PTCL is back to it’s old self that is if it had ever stopped.
Saleem has a point and root of all the problem that we see in today’s functioning of organizations like PTCL. This statement has a backing as the World Bank has termed Musharaf-Aziz rule the most corrupt tenure in Pakistan. The business profits were centered around their personal interests in the name of so called Musharaf’s national interests. Etisalat is increasing the market share and dropping the share value so it could buy back all the shares from the market at a cheap rate. A complete instituion has been destroyed just for personal gains.
mery vptcl wireless ke speed 115kbps ha jub k mery friends k pas v ke 250kbps speed ha ma isay kasay fast karun
I come to know that in last few months, 1.2 million subscribers of PTCL have said Good Bye to PTCL and we are expecting much more after this new tariff.
Shame one last government, who has even snatched basic necessity from the hands of Peoples of Pakistan by their inhumane tactics. Who is there to hear these poor people basic problems and give them breath of satisfaction?
PTCL Sheikhs keep on SUCKING
We pakistanis are really very unfortunate.Everyone is trying to rob us to the highest capicity. Ptcl should publish its rates clearly on the back of phone bills .Furthermore, any chage in rates and packages should be announced at least a month before its implementation.
I have two PTCL connections, I am phasing out one soon. Will just keep one line for backup since its cheap and convenient to call from mobile phones (Ufone Postpay: 0.50 paisas/min to Family & Friends)
this really rediculus . one must say shame on you ptcl. i will wait for the day when there is no landlines in the country and there is other sources of communication .
Because of this recent change in prices/taxes in pakistan, the call rates from USA to pakistan for most cards have gone higher from previous 4.5 cents to now over 10.0 cents.
Seems like we can’t do anything right and can’t compete to India in anything. we never going to learn to take the country to the right direction but just worrying about squeezing every thing out of the people which we can. Sad
Chicago
I think PTCL is creating problems with all the pakistanies and we are really very unfortunate.Everyone is trying to rob us through every possible manner. Ptcl should not increase the tax in this way like a high percentage.Furthermore, any chage in rates and packages should be announced at least a month before its implementation.We all pakistanies request them to reduce the tax.
I really like to swear this shit telef***** which is unprofessional by day one and soon it will be in less sales and destroyed by this arabic regime i wish i could kill all the politicians and this millitary and millitant of this country who make us people as pupit against each other and make money and then runaway…
Assalam u Alaikum,
There are certain organizations that have a huge footprint, like PTCL and WAPDA. There mistakes especially willful mistakes (some may call such willful mistakes a crime, but I haven’t) effect not one or two but tens of millions of ordinary Pakistanis. And in this regard, what people have to say about WAPDA is no hidden story.
However, PTCL, a behemoth, is acting or at least trying to act like a silent assassin. Since most govt organizations have been privatized, PTCL and it’s dedicated employees have taken up the task of maintaining the corrupt, inept, degrading and abusive reputation that has been built up by the govt sector with so much effort, over the years. It’s employees are lazy, inept, disobedient, unruly, uncommitted and disloyal, who are better of at verbally abusing everyone or engaging in physical assault upon their opponents. It’s management is arrogant, stubborn, corrupt and inconsiderate. And who gets to bear the brunt of their faults. It is the ordinary customers. Having the unfortunate honor of briefly working at PTCL, I have seen first hand examples of all the above and being an ordinary customer, I am still witnessing the hell thrown down upon us by this prestigious organization. They are fed with the money, from those very customers who they abuse, abuse, abuse.
Examples, I feel, would be redundant but still just to drive the point home, I will give a few, even though my writing fails to express the emotional scars. Leaving aside my painful job experience as a management trainee, a couple of good examples of PTCL exploiting it’s hegemonic position on the Pakistani fixed line communications network would be the following:
First of all, the automatic activation of “PTCL Pakistan Package”, which made it more like “PTCL Hindustan Package” trying to squeeze Rs.200 automatically out of every poor, innocent consumers. And then having the audacity to have their HR staff call people up (people who were well informed enough to de-activate this nuisance) and trying to deceive them into reactivating the said package.
The automatic activation of voice mail on all the numbers is another example of above pattern.
Next up is the exorbitant call rates, PTCL is maintaining. Pakistanis still consider phone as necessity, not a luxury (74% of the people live on less than a dollar a day) and use it only when needed. To make the basic call rate so high is outrageous.
Finally, the case of wrong billing. Why is it that they always err on the higher side? Why has it never happened that a consumer made a 1000 calls in a month and got a bill of only 100 calls??? While on the other hand, it is a daily story that, customers make 10,20 calls in a month and the bill they receive is for 500calls. PTCL has no record of local calls. So they can present any bill they want to, for some particular consumer. In doing so they take care that 50calls are exaggerated to 100 calls or more to make the struggling dinosaur live for one more day. Over billing is not a million rupee issue, it’s a multi billion rupee question and PTA so far, very conveniently for PTCL, has looked the other way as PTCL and it’s staff carry on this onslaught on the general public. To all the people who earn their livelihood through hard work, and give value to their money, you can test my point, by maintaining a record of the land-line phone calls yourself and then compare it with the bill. The result will be as clear as daylight.
And to the educated youth of my nation, engineers like me or other qualified technical staff, I would like to say just one thing; do not waste yourself in PTCL. There is no merit in that organization. They will destroy you.
Allah willing, this dinosaur rotting as it is, has not much time to live.
i think ptcl is creating problem with all pakistanies and we are realy very evry one is tryng to rob it is great
trust me mates im speech less right now i live in australia and i always use 10$ calling card for pakistan . last week i got surprise when i heard about pakistan packeg” That 10$ card use to give us more then 350 minuts now it give us hardly 75 minuts.I beleive most of my homelanders even dont know about this Bloody packeg.May ALLHA save pakistan frm that killers and specially from “ayeyaash”arabs.
The new packages by PTCL have not only raised call rates by more than 100% but in addition PTCL has devised other un-announced tactics to fleece its subscribers like
1- Call rates for dialup connections (used by majority of net users in the country) have been increased from one call (Rs 2.30) for UNLIMITED TIME to one call every 15 minutes! this is equivalant to Rs 9.20 PER HOUR! the increase % is incalculable. PTCL ads give no information about this increase.
2- The so called “free answering machine” is another underhand way for robing subscribers. it has been activated for all phones. Now when some one calls a phone that is busy or not receiving calls, the caller is diverted to the answering machine, and the caller is charged for the call, I once called a hospital for an emergency using my cell phone & got charged for 4 calls in the similar way.
PTA & govt. in general have no interest in protecting the consumer. The public is paying for Musharraf- Shoukat Aziz’s policy to sell public assets for a song that is costing dearly for the poor people of this country.
I wish someone from the newly elected govt. will take notice of this (if they can think of something other than their own personal agendas)
A OA some body can tell me which is new pacage of ptcl wich has cable brodband internet phone line we use all in one time if this pakg is then how much Rs par month?