Consumer body to probe Mentari duplication

JAKARTA (JP): The Indonesian Consumers Foundation (YLKI) said it would ask cellular phone operator PT Satelindo to explain the suspected duplication of refill vouchers of the latter's prepaid cellular phone service Mentari.

YLKI chairwoman Indah Sukmaningsih said on Friday the foundation would also ask Satelindo how it planned to compensate its customers.

"We want to know how this problem occurred. They (Satelindo) should also be able to identify the voucher numbers that have been duplicated," she told The Jakarta Post.

Indah said Satelindo could be charged for violating the 1999 law on consumer protection, and if proven guilty, liable to a five-year jail term or a maximum fine of Rp 2 billion (about US$227,272).

The law stipulates that a company must not produce and/or market products that do not meet the standard or are not in accordance to the quality promised.

However, she said it would be difficult for YLKI to take Satelindo to court as it would need the cooperation of the latter's customers themselves.

"All we could do is warn Satelindo's customers on the alleged violations committed by the company," Indah said, explaining that YLKI needs the testimonies of more than 50 customers to be able to file a class action suit.

Separately, Satelindo's general manager for customer service Dino Purwana said the company had recalled and blocked since Wednesday Mentari refill vouchers with codes that were suspected to have been duplicated.

Dino said the duplication was discovered after a customer reported that the serial number of the voucher he had purchased was rejected by the operator.

He said the company was recalling vouchers from Greater Jakarta, Bandung (West Java), Semarang (Central Java), Surabaya (East Java) and Medan (North Sumatra).

Satelindo is currently investigating the extent of the duplication, saying there is no material loss for Satelindo as the vouchers are printed by a another company.

"It's their (the printer's) responsibility to reprint the vouchers," Dino said, while declining to name the company that printed the vouchers or the number of vouchers it will take off the market.

He said the investigation would take at least a week, and in the meantime customers could replace their invalid vouchers with new ones at all Satelindo branches.(tnt)