(Eagle News)–Senator Sherwin Gatchalian has filed a bill that seeks to scrap the expiration of prepaid load.
Under Senate Bill No 365, or the Prepaid Load Forever Act of 2019, all Public Telecommunications Entities and Information and Communications Technology providers are banned from imposing an expiration period on the validity of prepaid load credits and their forfeiture.
Prepaid Load Forever Act of 2019 specifically bans the imposition of an expiration period on the validity of unused prepaid load credits, whether purchased via prepaid card or electronic load; forfeiture of such prepaid load credits on an active prepaid account, save for the purpose of availing of the mobile number portability service; and refusal to give a refund to any prepaid subscriber whose load credits were forfeited without any valid cause.
“Every peso spent by the consumer to purchase prepaid load credits must be usable until fully consumed,” he said.
He said if passed into law, the measure will lawmaker said his bill will impact 142,432,163 prepaid subscribers or 96.6% of the total number of mobile subscribers in the country as of the first quarter of 2019 who stand to lose their prepaid load credits due to non-use before the expiration date.
