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A decision made by the TRA will help prevent customers from paying excessive charges
7 July 2019
| Last updated on 7 July 2019
Pay-per-use data plans are to be discontinued in the UAE following a recent decision by regulating authorities.
To help combat excessive fees and high charges for customers, the country's Telecommunication Regulatory Authority (TRA) has decided that pay-per-use plans are not to be given to customers - unless 'explicitly requested' by the consumer.
As a result, Etisalat and du have both ended this service plan. The move hopes to prevent customers who have forgotten to unsubscribe from the service from being overcharged.
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The TRA announced the decision via its official Twitter account, which explained: "In order to protect the subscribers from excessive charges of the service "Pay-per-use data", TRA instructed the operators (@dutweets and @etisalat ) to discontinue this service unless the subscriber explicitly requests it from the operator."
The data-on-demand option has previously been offered by both Etisalat and du, who allow their respective subscribers to pay by the minute access to mobile data.
To subscribe, simply dial a specific number and you'll begin to receive the data-on-demand service. The problem, however, is that customers forget to unsubscribe to stop the service - leaving them facing huge charges.
Now, thanks to the TRAs decision, pay-per-use options will no longer be automatically added and customers wishing to use the service must explicitly request it from their service provider.
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Commenting on the new decision, HE Hamad Obaid Al Mansoori, TRA Director General, said: "This decision reflects TRA's keenness to achieve customers' happiness by implementing the best international standards on the services provided by the licensees in the country, providing the best services and the highest quality, and giving the subscribers more freedom and flexibility in choosing the services they desire."
Following the change, Etisalat has sent customers a text message saying: "Great news! No more bill shocks on data! To prevent unexpected charges, pay-as-you-go data has been blocked from 1st July 2019. For on-demand mobile internet, please dial *800# and use Play on Demand for only 5 fils/min."
