Zimbabwe: ICT Minister has order TelOne not to disconnect customers for non-payment, while a new tariff regime is developed

[The Herald] Information, Communication and Technology Minister Nelson Chamisa has ordered TelOne not to disconnect consumers for non-payment of bills while the Government is working on an affordable tariff regime.

Addressing journalists in Harare yesterday, Minister Chamisa said his ministry had received several complaints from customers across the country who had been disconnected by TelOne owing to high bills which they could not afford.

He said his ministry, together with the Posts and Telecommunication Regulating Authority was working on a proper billing system, competitive and affordable tariff regime that took cognisant of the challenges people have been going through over the years and company viability.

"The issue of termination of service by TelOne is an issue we are looking at as well as the exorbitant bills that have been sent out to people.

"We will be coming up with a new tariff structure whose effect is to reduce the current tariffs being levied by TelOne, so we have since told TelOne not to disconnect customers," he said.

"We are approaching this in a scientific fashion, we can't use subscribers as investors, we need to come up with other plans like commercialisation or privatisation for example as well as other models that are however competitive. Tariffs should also conform with those in the region."

Minister Chamisa said an ICT Bill which seeks to address challenges facing the industry is on the cards and will soon be forwarded to Cabinet before being tabled before Parliament.

"The Bill will look at ICT convergence, regulatory framework, licensing, proliferation among other issues.

"This is also contained in our 100-Days Plan and the Short Term Emergency Recovery Programme and we need to meet these targets.

"We will first assess the capacity of the existing players, bringing in more players leads to competition and reduced tariffs but we should also not undermine existing players who have stood with even in difficult times," he said.

The ministry was in the process of setting up a Government website that consolidates all activities by all ministries.

He said while some ministries already had their website, the proposed website would consolidate all the activities as a way of promoting the country's tourism by providing a one stop website.

Don't Disconnect Consumers, TelOne Ordered