|
|
Reasons
for Order re Payment of Bills
|
|
Home
metering addresses the same problem addressed by itemized
billing: the lack of information provided to a subscriber
on his/her telephone use by SLTL. Having ordered the operators
to implement itemized billing which is the solution set
out in the licence conditions, the committee sees no value
in ordering this unproven, costly and ineffective solution
to be implemented. The installation of home meters for
all subscribers will be
' very costly. The likelihood of tampering cannot be ruled
out. As a result, the operators cannot be compelled to
accept the readings from home meters over their own measuring
devices. The Committee found that Mr. Nalin Karunasinghe's
invention may be useful for those managing communication
centers, but that it would be of little value in residential
settings. |
| 8.0 |
Fraud |
| 8.1 |
The
Committee of Inquiry having considered the representations
of both subscribers and service providers makes the following
order |
| 8.1.1
|
In
the event of a billing dispute, operators must make all
reasonable efforts to exclude the possibility that fraudulent
use has occurred, and be primarily responsible for minimizing
its occurrence and for detecting such fradulent use whenever
it takes place. The onus is on the Operators to come up
with ways and means of achieving these ends. |
| 8.1.2
|
Fraudulent use is extremely
difficult for the subscriber to detect and document,
especially in the absence of itemized bills. Therefore
the subscriber should receive the benefit of the doubt
in the context of a dispute where there is reasonable
grounds for suspicion that fraudulent use has occurred.
|
| 8.1.3
|
Operators
should offer substantial rewards for providing information
relating to fraudulent use, and for the successful prosecution
of offenders under Section 46 of the Sri Lanka Telecommunications
Act, No. 25 of 1991, as amended. |
| 8.1.4 |
Operators should ensure that all their employees who work
on their outside plant wear uniforms and identification
and are easily recognizable as authorized persons. |
| 8.1.5 |
Operators should give wide publicity to the efforts made
by them to eliminate fraudulent use in order to enhance
consumer confidence and trust in the accuracy of their
bills. ' |
| 8.1.6 |
Operators are required to submit reports on actions taken
under the provisions of this Order to the Commission by
December 31 st of each year, starting in 1999. |
| 8.2 |
Reasons for Order on Fraud
Fraudulent use is defined for the present purposes as
the gaining of illegal access to a subscriber's service
beyond the subscriber's premises by accessing the cable
system or by illegal interference with charging or billing
systems resulting in the allocation of call charges to
subscribers who should not be charged for those calls.
Complaints were received from subscribers alleging the
fraudulent use of their lines in spite of all reasonable
precautions being taken by the subscribers to prevent
unauthorized access within their premises. There were
several complaints that described situations where subscribers
had been billed far in excess of the estimated number
of calls, while the owners ruled out any possibility of
the phone being legitimately used to the extent billed.
This had led to suspicion that subscriber's lines were.
being used by unauthorized persons, with the charges debited
to the owners of the telephones. Despite the best efforts
of the Committee, it was not possible to establish the
existence of a pattern of fraudulent activities by individuals
or groups within or outside the operator companies. The
Committee considers the widespread belief of fraud to
be detrimental to the development of the telecommunication
industry and urges the operators to take steps even beyond
those specified in the Order to alleviate the fears of
the public. |
