Singapore now has new measures to protect consumers not to pay phones at more than reality. The Infocomm Development Authority (IDA) of Singapore has introduced new consumer protection measures for mobile and broadband services.
It requires operators to put in place new systems to help consumers prevent unwanted mobile charges caused by Premium Rate Services (PRS) and data roaming. To minimise “bill shocks”, mobile operators will be required to provide an option for consumers to limit their data roaming usage in a monthly billing cycle to S$100.
IDA also expects mobile operators to put in place the PRS barring service by the first quarter of 2012. With immediate effect, it will also impose more stringent penalties if the PRS Code is broken. Operators will need to be more transparent in the way they publish internet broadband speeds offered in their broadband plans by publishing the typical speeds that consumers can expect to experience. And with a view to raise standards for mobile services, the Quality of Service (QoS) framework will be reviewed.
In fact, these measures will help operators provide better services to their customers and this in turn will help improve consumer satisfaction with the services provided by the operators.