Editor’s note: This post has been updated to include a response from Telenor Pakistan.

 

We all remember those instances when we get bothered by the marketing messages promoting their latest packages. It’s annoying, isn’t it? So recently a Telenor user on social media asserted that her phone network might be involved in potentially overcharging without disclosing in reference to the messages being sent to her.

 

Hija Kamran, a human rights activist from Karachi shared her experience regarding her phone network ‘Telenor’

She stated that she is a loyal user and has been using Telenor for 11 years.

 

She pointed out how Telenor, like other cell phone companies, might be overcharging without clearly disclosing and explained the details with the messages she received earlier

She claimed that she and one of her acquaintance discovered that their balance of PKR 0.75 got deducted on daily basis. She also said that it is a little amount but considering the fact that Telenor has a large number of subscribers, it can be deduced that this possible overcharging has the capability to generate a very huge amount of money.

 

She even calculated the amount and approximated the total to be Rs. 32,250,000 /- everyday that the company is making off of innocent users with just one text message they send to your phone

 

Hija re-checked the information she was providing and confirmed that despite the fact that she didn’t make any calls/texts, still the amount got deducted

 

She claimed that this is the text she received on daily basis without subscribing to any package

Source: @hijakamran/Twitter

 

She kept on updating about the situation and mentioned that she was approached by the members of Telenor team but they were unsure about the whole situation

Later, she received a call from the tech team which explained that data activity on her number is the cause of the messages. Though, Hijah clearly denied the usage of mobile data.

 

Telenor responded as well and claimed that the data activation without package charged her with the money and said that Telenor makes efforts to ensure transparency

 

Hijah claimed that she was being wrongly charged…

 

…and a lot of people in the thread have said that they also receive the same message without data usage

 

Telenor asserted that their analysis reflected that Hijah’s device has shown the traces of data usage without package and they further said that they would talk to her on the phone to resolve the issue

They also offered that a representative can help Hijah to get her device checked.

If the allegations by the user are true then it possibly is a huge issue which clandestinely operated to generate a huge sum of money. But final results cannot be deduced with this incomplete information so let’s just wait for the situation to get more clear.

 

Representatives from Telenor Pakistan also reached out to us to share what goes on at the company’s end when you end up being charged for the messages they send, here’s what they say:

“Telenor Pakistan is a customer oriented organization and is fully committed to providing services transparently by keeping its valued customers informed about their usage. We would like to highlight that in the absence of a data bundle users are charged PKR 0.75/64kbps and an SMS is sent to keep the users informed about this deduction.

In order to ensure there is no disruption in internet connectivity, some handset manufacturers provide the feature of automatic switching to mobile data in case WiFi connectivity is weak or unavailable.

For the benefit of our valued customers who intend to avoid automatic switching to data from WiFi, we would like to share a few simple steps for their convenience:

Disable the Auto Network Switch Setting on Android Devices

  1. From a Home screen navigate: Apps   > Settings.

These instructions apply to Standard mode only.

  1. From the Wireless and networks section, tap Wi-Fi.
  2. Tap More.
  3. Tap Advanced.
  4. Tap Smart network switch to turn off
  5. If presented with the “Mobile data may be used to maintain a stable Internet connection. This may result in additional charges depending on your payment plan” prompt, tap OK to continue

Or

  1. From a home Screen Navigate Apps and Select Settings
  2. From the Connections Tab Select Wifi
  3. Select Advanced
  4. Turn off ‘Switch to mobile Data Option'”
001-telenor
Via: Telenor Pakistan

 

002-telenor
Via: Telenor Pakistan

So there you have it, while you are indeed charged the Rs. 0.75/- for your data usage which in turn generates a text message alerting you on your cellphone, this happens only in the absence of a data bundle, according to Telenor.

What do you think about the whole issue? Can you guys still sense a ‘potential’ scam? Or is it just an allegation without research and merit? Let us know in the comments below.

 

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