Excelcomindo ready to face class action<\/p>\n
Tantri Yuliandini, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Cellular operator PT Excelcomindo Pratama is ready to face the
\npossibility of a class action filed by more than 100 subscribers
\nover its recently adjusted tariff structure, the company's lawyer
\nsaid on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Todung Mulya Lubis of the Lubis, Santosa & Maulana law firm
\nsaid that the allegations made by the subscribers' lawyers that
\nthe company had contravened prevailing regulations by imposing
\nits charges were false, and that he was ready to prove so before
\nthe judges should the case go to court.<\/p>\n
\"The claims are without foundation and we can prove that Excel
\nhas not broken the law,\" he told a media conference here.<\/p>\n
Law firm Dheanira Siregar, Anggraeni and Partners (DSAP), on
\nbehalf of more than 100 Excel subscribers, said on Tuesday that
\nit would file a class action against Excel for allegedly rounding
\nup the duration of calls to 30 seconds instead of the six seconds
\nstipulated by a 1997 ministerial ruling.<\/p>\n
This meant, for example, that a four-second call would be
\ncharged as a 30-second call instead of a six-second call. The
\nmark-up had caused losses amounting to Rp 1 trillion if all
\n800,000 Excel subscribers were included, DSAP said earlier.<\/p>\n
Excel had approximately 1 million subscribers as of September
\nthis year.<\/p>\n
DSAP also alleged that Excel charged for calls to the
\noperator, and had increased its charges without giving prior
\nnotice to the public.<\/p>\n
DSAP said it had sent three formal warnings to the company
\nover the possible class action.<\/p>\n
Todung maintained that Excel had not broken the regulations on
\nthe rounding up of call times as the regulations differentiated
\nbetween post-paid services and pre-paid services.<\/p>\n
Excel's corporate secretary Susi A. Sulaiman said that the
\n1997 ministerial ruling cited by DSAP only regulated post-paid
\nservices, while pre-paid services were governed by ministerial
\ndecree No. 79\/1998.<\/p>\n
\"For our post-paid subscribers, we have always complied with
\nthe six-second rule, but for pre-paid subscribers we go by the
\n1998 ministerial decree,\" she said.<\/p>\n
The 1998 decree stipulated that charges for pre-paid calls
\ncould be charged at a rate amounting to a maximum of 140 percent
\nof the peak-time rate for post-paid calls.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/excelcomindo-ready-to-face-class-action-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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