Telkomsel: Lawyer takes small step for consumers

A cellular phone user in South Jakarta is suing Telkomsel — for Rp 90,000, or about US$10 — for allegedly billing him for unordered services.

Lawyer David Tobing, who filed a civil suit against PT Telkomsel at the South Jakarta District Court in September, defended his claim. “This is not much, but I want to make it clear that the rights of consumers should be protected.”

David said he had received nine messages in August and September telling him about a service he never ordered. “I received a text message that said I had registered to use a product named Opera Mini in July. I never requested that,” David told The Jakarta Post on Monday.

“Every time I checked my phone bill, I found I was charged Rp 10,000 [US$1.12] per message I received ... After the ninth message, I decided to file a complaint against Telkomsel for stealing my phone credits.”

Firms might have racked up billions of rupiah through allegedly unauthorized credit transactions, according to David.

“Most of these companies’ customer service sections are difficult to reach. Customer service does not have the authority to return phone credits. Most customers will let the Rp 20,000 go to waste rather than trying to reclaim it and have to deal with complicated procedures.”

David said his lawsuit would go to trial within two weeks.

The Jakarta Student Circle said its members who were staffing booths through the city have received more than 500 billing complaints from irate cell phone users.

Telkomsel did not respond to a telephone call or an email enquiry sent by the Post on Monday.

Responding to a story by Tempo weekly, Telkomsel spokesman Ricardo Indra said that customers should call the company’s hot line to reclaim any lost credits.

“We treat every customer complaint seriously. If any of our content providers are proven to have committed a violation, then Telkomsel will impose sanctions. We also push content providers to settle any issue with customers who feel cheated,” he said.