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By Charumini de Silva
The TRCSL-approved price increase for all mobile, fixed, pay-TV will come into effect from today, a move operators said was long due whilst customers termed it as ‘unfair’ amidst the ongoing economic crisis.
The telecommunications providers jointly announced that the regulator the Telecommunication Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka (TRCSL) has approved an upward tariff revision for all Mobile, Fixed, and Pay-TV service providers.
Thereby, mobile, fixed, broadband, and other services tariffs have been increased by 20%, while all Pay-TV tariffs have been increased by 25%. In addition, there will be an overall 15% VAT added to the bill, it added.
The rationale for the tariff increases across the board is due to the escalation of operational costs resulting from the devaluation of the rupee, and the recent 15% VAT hike announced by the Government during its interim Budget. The industry had been requesting for a hike since 2020 but TRC had deferred it.
However, with connectivity now considered a ‘basic human need’, the consumers said the recent move by the TRCSL was untimely and unfair.
Sri Lanka’s mobile penetration has seen a phenomenal increase during the past 20 years. Mobile telephone subscriptions which stood at 430,202 in the year 2000 rose to 28.73 million in 2020.
Following the COVID-19 pandemic, the country has seen an exponential increase with the number now standing at over 29.95 million. In 2021, total fixed access services (wirelines and wireless local loop telephones) was at 2.85 million and the internet connections (including mobile internet connections) was at 22.23 million.
“There was no public consultation before the price hike hence it is very unfair. At least when the electricity tariff hike came in, the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL) held one and reviewed public opinion, and intervened for a reasonable hike. People knew about a possible tariff hike beforehand. It is a basic right of a consumer,” several customers alleged.
Despite the claims of operators on rising operational costs, the customers complained that during the power cuts there is hardly any connection for data subscriptions.
“The fault of economic mismanagement by those responsible is now being forced upon the telco customers. As citizens of the country, we have to bear all the absurd and unfair burden of rupee devaluation and ad-hoc tax policies implied by the authorities,” they alleged.
The distressed customers also said additional data connections they bought because the WiFi connections were out of service during the power cuts, but even those data connections do not work during scheduled power outages as towers in areas lose connectivity too.
“We have made several complaints to the operators. To these, the only response we have gotten so far is that they do not have the infrastructure or the technology to provide services during the power cuts. However, by the end of the month, we have to pay for the monthly subscription payment, irrespective of the usage of the connections,” they charged.
The customers also pointed out that if the TRCSL was in agreement with the operators for the tariff hike, without even addressing the issues of slow data speed, lack of capacity, infrastructure, and technology issues only thinking about the benefits to the telco companies, whilst completely disregarding the customers.
“As a regulator, the TRCSL should look into the aspects of both the service provider and the customer. In this case, we see that the TRCSL has taken a biased decision from the operator's perspective. During fuel shortages and COVID pandemic, online school activities and work from home (WFH) was the only option.
“With this tariff hike we do not have the financial capacity to manage the household expenses, as the salaries have not increased as against the soaring cost of living. As customers of both urban and rural communities, we could have been at least satisfied if there was seamless connectivity to all customers than resorting to bias and ad-hoc tariff hikes,” they claimed.
Telco experts told the Daily FT it was important to have a balanced regulatory framework with the right structures and incentives. This will enhance the telecommunications industry, create more opportunities for foreign investments into the country and elevate Sri Lanka to a competitive position among its peers in the region.
The broadband penetration stands at around 37.1% compared to countries in the region which record 50% to 96% penetration. The country’s Digital Economy (DE) is around 3% of the national economy (GDP) currently lagging behind other Asian and South Asian countries which stand at around 20% to 50% (for example Malaysia 20% and South Korea and Japan 50%).
With digital economies growing in Sri Lanka, the country shows so much potential for improvement setting the perfect opportunity for a digital revolution.
