Lawmakers voted on Tuesday for mobile phone operators to charge users per second instead of per minute, claiming users can collectively save up to 43 billion baht a year.
All the more reason to laugh if users can save up to 40 baht a month. (Photo by Apichart Jinakul)
The National Legislative Assembly (NLA) considered on Tuesday a study on mobile-phone charges by the consumer protection committee under the National Reform Council.
Saree Aongsomwang, chairwoman of the committee, said by charging a fraction of a minute as a full minute, operators unfairly took advantage of callers.
Under the per-second tariff structure, a user could save up to one minute or 1.33 baht a day or 40 baht a month. Given that there are 94 million active mobile numbers at present, the saving would total 3.59 billion baht or 43.09 billion a year.
The study proposed that the NLA voted to approve the principle to be later endorsed by the National Council for Peace and Order.
At the same time, the issue should be sent to the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission so it can order the operators to comply.
After a lengthy debate, the NLA voted 211-3 in favour of the study with seven abstentions.