You pay for the data, fail to use it, then watch it disappear. That is the frustration now boiling over among Malawian mobile users, who say expired bundles leave them feeling robbed of money they already spent.
Mobile users in Malawi are calling for the expiry policy governing data bundles to be abolished or revised.
They argue that subscribers should not lose data for which they have paid, particularly when the data has not been used.
These demands have gained momentum in the comment section of MACRA’s Facebook page, where consumers are urging the authority to review the current bundle validity system.
Under the current framework, a subscriber who purchases, for example, a weekly data bundle forfeits it after seven days, regardless of whether the bundle has been used. Consumers contend that the validity period should begin only once the data is first used, and that days on which a subscriber does not go online should not count, until the full allocation is consumed.
One consumer, Frassie Frank, wrote on MACRA’s Facebook page that bundles expiring while unused amounted to “stealing.”
Another user, Luka Witness, stated that the practice warrants closer regulatory scrutiny: “The process of data expiry should be scrutinised.”
Some consumers have also used the platform to urge additional mobile telecommunications companies to enter the Malawian market. This reflects dissatisfaction with the limited number of operators in the country.
MACRA was not immediately available for comment.
The latest grievances follow shortly after MACRA launched an investigation into concerns regarding the rapid depletion of data bundles on the TNM and Airtel Malawi networks.
Mobile users in Malawi are calling for the expiry policy governing data bundles to be abolished or revised.
They argue that subscribers should not lose data for which they have paid, particularly when the data has not been used.
These demands have gained momentum in the comment section of MACRA’s Facebook page, where consumers are urging the authority to review the current bundle validity system.
Under the current framework, a subscriber who purchases, for example, a weekly data bundle forfeits it after seven days, regardless of whether the bundle has been used. Consumers contend that the validity period should begin only once the data is first used, and that days on which a subscriber does not go online should not count, until the full allocation is consumed.
One consumer, Frassie Frank, wrote on MACRA’s Facebook page that bundles expiring while unused amounted to “stealing.”
Another user, Luka Witness, stated that the practice warrants closer regulatory scrutiny: “The process of data expiry should be scrutinised.”
Some consumers have also used the platform to urge additional mobile telecommunications companies to enter the Malawian market. This reflects dissatisfaction with the limited number of operators in the country.
MACRA was not immediately available for comment.
The latest grievances follow shortly after MACRA launched an investigation into concerns regarding the rapid depletion of data bundles on the TNM and Airtel Malawi networks.
