Inside the billion pula tariff war
Friday, June 09, 2017
A battle is raging over BOCRA's plans to reduce cellphone tariffs
The mobile phone service provider had approached the court seeking an interim interdict to halt the implementation of BOCRA’s directive and a subsequent ruling that were implemented on Thursday last week. Mascom Wireless argues that the reduction in tariffs was not done in good faith and that there are prospects of success in having the March directive reviewed or set aside by the court. In the court papers, Mascom argues that:
“The approved prepaid tariffs are the maximum prices that shall be charged for any prepaid call service offered by Mascom. Mascom shall ensure that all existing packages are revised accordingly and charged within the set ceiling. The approved postpaid prices are the maximum prices that shall be charged for any postpaid call package offered by Mascom for consumer, business and other packages. All existing postpaid packages shall have prices charged within the set ceiling”.
That sounds like good news. But the report also warns that this may simply be because our digital economy is still young, not because we are safe. As more people shop, bank and pay online, criminals will follow.We Batswana do not need a report to tell us that danger is real. Many of us have heard of or fallen victim to KYC scams. A caller impersonates your bank or mobile money provider. They say they need to “verify” your account. They ask...