According to an article in NewsDay, the Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (POTRAZ) has threatened to disconnect Econet’s value-added services.
The article quotes a letter from Econet Wireless, addressed to their VAS customers (emphasis ours).
In light of the above and the official confirmed threat from the regulator to disconnect all VAS services, Econet has made a pro-active decision to create a separate Dedicated Account where customers will deposit money for all VAS they are subscribed.
NewsDay also quotes both Econet and POTRAZ denying this move was forced, although the Econet letter (if quoted correctly) seems to confirm that POTRAZ indeed threatened them.
Whether the move was forced or not is unclear, but what we do know is that it is a huge step towards reducing many complaints we have received about Econet.
There has been a sustained outcry about airtime mysteriously disappearing from mobile accounts.
“In terms of the modus operandi, nothing changes except that the money will no longer be deducted from the main account with effect from 20th of June 2015,” the company said.
Econet gave us more detail in a series of tweets.
Hi @consumerizim It certainly was a result of feedback from our customers. Here's how we are making it better.. 1/
— Econet Wireless (@econetzimbabwe) June 23, 2015
@consumerizim Where previously 'third party services' (eg ringtones) were paid for from your main airtime, we're tweaked this a bit. 2/
— Econet Wireless (@econetzimbabwe) June 23, 2015
@consumerizim Now, you'll have two separate accounts; one for 'normal' airtime, the other for your VAS subscriptions 3/
— Econet Wireless (@econetzimbabwe) June 23, 2015
@consumerizim With two accounts, now you can allocate credit as you wish. Your VAS account will now pay for your subscriptions. 4/
— Econet Wireless (@econetzimbabwe) June 23, 2015
@consumerizim Hope this helps. The big idea is to help you manage your airtime and VAS payments better. Great to get feedback from you!
— Econet Wireless (@econetzimbabwe) June 23, 2015
Ultimately, we are glad something has finally been done. Maybe now airtime will stop disappearing from Econet airtime balances.
It doesn’t really matter that POTRAZ claim to have nothing to do with it.
“We have not sent any communication to cancel any service to any operator.”