Post-paid lines wrongly offered to workers disconnected

Dubai: UAE’s telecom company du has deactivated the post-paid lines and waived the charges incurred by blue-collar workers who were duped by third-party agents into getting phone lines during Ramadan.

More than a dozen low-income workers were offered “free SIM cards with 300 minutes and 1GB data packages” in August that later turned out to be post-paid lines, a facility only for customers with a minimum salary of Dh2,500. Gulf News reported this on September 8 following the complaint of the workers.

The third-party agents of du visited the workers at their accommodation in Al Muhaisnah, promising them they could disconnect the SIM cards after one month if they were dissatisfied with the service. In reality, however, any du post-paid lines can be disconnected only after six months.

When Gulf News reported this two months ago, du assured those affected by these actions “will not bear any costs as a result, and we would like to extend our apologies for any inconvenience they may have faced”.

But it’s no longer just inconvenience Sabbir Mahmoud, 25, is experiencing but a threat of being reported to police. Mahmoud said the box of the SIM card remains unopened to date.

“I got a call on October 29 saying I need to pay the bill of Dh375 otherwise they will file a case with the police. I told them I haven’t even opened the SIM card. But they dismissed that and said I still need to pay,” Mahmoud told Gulf News.

Another worker, Murad, who works as a security guard, received this message: “Pre-legal notice: The amount Dh360 is overdue for payment. If this isn’t settled straight away, we will have to file a legal case against you to recover the outstanding amount…”

When contacted, a spokesperson from du said that as a licensed telecom service provider, they firmly abide by the standards and regulations put forth by the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority. He assured the workers that the necessary action has been taken.

“Incidents of this nature are a top priority for us and, in this particular instance, the complaint was immediately escalated to the relevant partner, and corrective action was undertaken immediately,” the spokesperson told Gulf News in a statement.

“The first resolution to this complaint was offered on September 7; we took immediate action following receiving the complaint by beginning the process of rectification and waiving of any fees incurred. Currently, we are steadfastly working towards a complete resolution regarding the remaining numbers and waiving any charges incurred,” the spokesperson added.

The spokesperson urged other customers who have had a similar experience to contact du directly so that the respective team can work towards expediting a resolution.

Customers can contact du by calling 155, or by visiting one of its customer care centres across the country or visiting their website www.du.ae.

“We would like to apologise for any inconvenience that our customers may have faced.”