Mobile phone users object to SEA Games 'donation'
Mobile phone users object to SEA Games 'donation'
JAKARTA (JP): A poll of mobile phone owners has found that
almost all of them object to paying the South East Asian (SEA)
Games "donation".
The poll, conducted by the Indonesian Consumers Foundation,
found that only two percent of mobile phone owners questioned by
the foundation did not object to paying the Rp 2,500 (US$1.06)
donation every three months.
The foundation's executive director, Zumrotin K. Soesilo, said
that of the 98 percent of respondents who had objections to the
donation, 61 percent were willing to pay the donation once and 37
percent did not want to pay anything.
She said that most of the 100 users selected randomly in
Jakarta asked whether they had to pay the donation. "In fact, the
donation is voluntary," Zumrotin said.
She said that many respondents complained they had not
received the SEA Games stickers after paying the donation along
with their mobile phone bills.
Zumrotin said the foundation would distribute the survey
results to mobile phone operators. "It will be up to them to
decide whether they will continue adding the donation to the
bills," she said.
Since last month the foundation has been flooded with
complaints from consumers about SEA Games donations being added
to mobile phone, telephone, water and electricity bills.
Last week the foundation sent letters to the state-owned
telephone company PT Telkom, the state owned water company PAM
Jaya and the state electricity company PT PLN asking them to stop
adding Rp 1,000 to their customers' bills.
"We have had no reaction so far from Telkom and PAM," Zumrotin
said yesterday.
PLN's President Djiteng Marsudi promised last week to stop
adding the donation to its customers' bills.
"Donations", ranging from Rp 1,000 to Rp 50,000, are being
collected by public utility companies by the sale of stickers
under a Ministry of Social Services decree to raise Rp 35 billion
(US$14.3 million) to help finance the Rp 100 billion Games.
The ministry appointed PT Angkasa Ronagraha, a consortium
headed by President Soeharto's son Bambang Trihatmodjo, to raise
the funds.
The system has caused problems in cases when utilities have
simply included the "donation" on monthly bills, making it
difficult for customers to refuse payment.
City Council Speaker M.H. Ritonga said yesterday the
municipality should carefully monitor the collection of SEA Games
donations from the public.
"The donations' collection should be based on the regulation.
If it violated, such as no stickers being distributed in return
for the donations, it should be put in order," Ritonga said.
"If there's a violation, the municipality and the consortium
in charge of the SEA Games fund-raising should be held
responsible," he said. (ste)