Bahrain telecom companies criticised in parliament

Manama : Telecom firms, which “unjustly charge” clients for unwanted promotional messages, should be brought before law, according to a lawmaker. 

Parliament’s Financial and Economic Affairs Committee Member Jalal Kadhem Al Mahfoudh called upon Transportation and Telecommunication Minister Kamal Ahmed to hold such service providers accountable. He also demanded the telcos to immediately cease “ripping-off” their clients.

Recently, there has been a rise in the number of complaints  from mobile network users in
the Kingdom, in regard to receiving advertisement and unwanted messages. Customers have claimed huge losses as a result of this.

“These messages are meant to swindle and blackmail the public. Telecom firms should defend their clients instead of demanding them to pay,” Al Mahfoudh said. 

The parliamentarian pointed out that both postpaid and prepaid users have fallen prey to such bogus promotional campaigns.

Loophole in the law

Citing the importance of customers privacy protection, the legislator said that telcos should not leak personal information of clients to any party.

“We’re facing this phenomenon now because of an existing loophole in the law, which does not criminalise such practices,” Al Mahfoudh highlighted.

“One of our priorities would be issuing necessary laws and legislations to oblige companies to respect their clients’ privacy and not to unveil their personal information to any party.”

“Any organisation has the right to promote its services through proper media. But, they should never violate the client’s privacy and charge them for unwanted services,” he added.