Government pledges to limit phone hike to 28.74%

JAKARTA (JP): The government guaranteed on Monday that the planned increase of fixed telephone call rates in Jakarta and its surrounding area would be limited to a maximum of 28.74 percent.

Minister of Communications Budi Mulyawan Suyitno said the plan to adopt a single tariff system in the capital would be dropped so that increases of up to 167 percent, as proposed in the new tariff structure, could be prevented.

The change in the proposed single tariff system will be one of the most important issues to be reviewed by the government, he said in a press conference held to appease criticism over the government's new telephone rates.

The government planned to increase telephone rates by an average of 21.67 percent this week. However, implementation has been delayed due to controversy over the use of a single tariff system in the capital.

The new system has sparked protest because the increase in call rates during working hours reached as high as 167 percent, far higher than the 21.67 percent average approved by the House of Representatives.

The government and state-owned telecommunication company PT Telkom earlier acknowledged that the rise in call rates within Jakarta would reach as high as 167 percent during peak hours. They argued, however, that the average overall tariff increase would remain at 21.67 percent because the change to a single tariff system would be followed by a sharp drop in call rates at certain distances.

The existing tariff structure for Jakarta is based on a multiple tariff system in which a call is calculated based on the distance between the caller and the recipient, the duration of the call, and the time of the call.

The single zone tariff would eliminate consideration of the distance and time of the call in the calculation and set a single charge of Rp 150 a minute for all calls within the 021 area code.

Therefore, at a certain distance, calls that would now cost Rp 56 a minute would cost Rp 150 a minute under the new tariff system, amounting to an increase of 167.86 percent.

"We will review the level of the tariff, the duration, and also the time frame, so that it will not be higher than 28.74 percent," Telkom director of operations and marketing Komarudin Sastrakoesoemah said.

He said that the review would consider the possibility of retaining the single zone but vary the cost of calls depending on the time frame -- peak hour and non-peak hour.

"So, there may be certain times in which we provide a cheaper social rate for example," Komarudin explained.

Without setting a definite deadline, the recently appointed Minister of Communications said that the revised tariff would only be implemented once a compromise had been reached between the government and representatives of the public, including the Indonesian Consumers Agency (YLKI) and the House of Representatives.

"A time limit is not our priority. It would depend on how effectively we publicize the new hike," Budi said. (tnt)