Phone tariff hike opposed

JAKARTA (Antara): Members of the House of Representatives have opposed the government's move to raise local telephone call charges by 4.54 percent starting Jan. 1, 1997.

Legislators said Tuesday PT Telkom, the state-owned domestic telecommunications company, should improve its services before demanding an increase in charges.

Members of the House Commission V on communication, Ali Marwan Hanan and Marsinggih Marnadi, said a hike, however small, would be a burden for people while there was no guarantee services would improve.

Hanan hoped the government would refrain from making "unpopular" decisions, especially those affecting people in the lower-income bracket.

He said there was no need to increase charges at this point because Indonesia's domestic telecommunications tariff was already higher than those of other countries.

Secretary-general of the Ministry of Tourism, Post and Telecommunications, Jonathan L. Parapak, said PT Telkom, which is under the auspices of his ministry, proposed to raise local telephone call charges from Rp 110 to Rp 115 per pulse starting Jan. 1.

"However, we also proposed that charges for long distance calls be reduced by 1.82 percent from Rp 110 to Rp 108 per pulse. We also plan to reduce overseas call charges to 209 nations," he said.

Marnadi said it was not timely to raise the charges because PT Telkom had failed to meet some of its targets, like improving its services and reducing the rate of unsuccessful calls.

Both Hanan and Marnadi expressed disappointment they were not consulted prior to the announcement of the plan.

"The government should not just expect us to justify its decisions," they said, adding that legislators must be consulted because they represent the public.