Dubai: If you have ever received a bill shock from your telecom provider because your phone bill had unexpected charges, you can prevent this situation by setting a monthly spending limit on phone apps and in-app purchases.
Phone subscribers in the UAE can curb their monthly spending on applications through Etisalat or Du. To inform people about the service, the UAE’s Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory Authority (TDRA) took to their official social media channels on Tuesday and posted an informational video advising phone users to define their purchase limit.
So, if you want to avoid incurring excessive charges to your credit card because of downloading games and apps on your phone, here is how to set a purchasing cap through Etisalat and Du.
Etisalat
Here are the following steps for Etisalat users:
1. Go to your mobile phone keypad and dial *101*70#
You will then receive a message from Etisalat, stating: “This menu is to change your monthly spending cap limits for App Store on this number, Please reply with 1: continue, 0: to go back, 00: for the menu.”
Press 1.
3. Next, you will be presented with two options:
Reply 2 for Dh250 per month.
Reply 3 for more options.
4. If you chose Dh250 limit, you will receive a message confirming monthly spending cap.
5. If you replied with 3, these are the options you will receive:
Reply 3 for Dh500 per month.
Reply 4 for Dh1,000.
However, if you want to customise your spending limit above Dh1,000 per month, you will need to call 101.
Du
If you use Du and want to limit your spending for apps, here are the steps to follow:
1. Send an SMS to 1355, with the message - Cap and the amount of the limit. For example, if you wish to set a cap of Dh100, write ‘Cap 100’ and send the SMS to 1355.
2. You will then receive a text message from Du, confirming that the cap has been successfully set.
Receiving calls from an unsaved number but can see the caller’s name? Here’s why
Recently, phone users in the UAE have also started getting the names of companies when they get a call, instead of the landline number showing up. This is because of TDRA’s new initiative – ‘Kashif' – which is aimed at empowering phone users to know which company is calling them so that they can decide on whether they want to decline or accept the call.
To find out more about the TDRA’s ‘Kashif’ initiative read here.