Fixed-line subscribers of the "Touch" company did not accept the size of the bills that arrived at their phones the day before yesterday, delayed by six days. They were reassured that the bill would come to them according to the 1500 LBP rate, considering that the new rate would begin for them on August 1 for the invoice of July. However, they received the June bill calculated at a rate of one-third and based on the "Sayrafa" platform price. As for prepaid lines, the dollar balances held, which were previously at 20 dollars, disappeared to just a dollar and a half, leading subscribers to believe their accumulated balances had been stolen. Regarding the recharge cards, they disappeared from sales points, and if they were available, their prices were high, calculated at 33,000 LBP per dollar compared to the 25,300 LBP rate for "Sayrafa." When "Nidaa al-Watan" asked a cell phone shop owner about the reason, he attributed it to "chaos" and the lack of a unified pricing system in Lebanese pounds. For example, the 7.5-dollar recharge card was sold for 250,000 LBP instead of 189,750 LBP, meaning it was being calculated at a dollar value of 33,000 LBP instead of 25,300 LBP (the rate of the day before yesterday). A few points of sale calculated it at 30,700 LBP per dollar, making its price 230,000 LBP as the lowest price.
Thus, chaos spread in the sale of "black cards," which are supposed to be determined at purchase based on the "Sayrafa" platform price, which reached 25,400 LBP yesterday. There were cries from subscribers who were unable to communicate with the telecommunications companies in general through their websites and applications. Expressions of blatant theft directed at cell operators and holding Minister of Telecommunications Johnny Qarm responsible coincided with the filing of two lawsuits to annul Cabinet Decision No. 155 dated 20/5/2022. The Minister of Telecommunications received the lawsuits sent to the Litigation and Consultation Authority in the State Council with a two-week deadline for a response, denying the rumors that the State Council had decided to suspend the implementation of the new government decision.
In the midst of this confusion, "Touch" clarified regarding fixed lines that monthly subscriptions for lines and internet subscriptions are charged for the next month, indicating that the June bill "charged communications and data consumed at an exchange rate of 1514.5 LBP, while subscriptions for July are calculated according to the new reduced rates based on the Sayrafa platform." As for "Alpha," which also "deducted" from balances available on prepaid lines, it usually issues fixed-line bills on the 8th of the month (today) and not on the first, leading to anticipation regarding how it will calculate its bills for the current month.
In light of this dilemma, MP Hadi Abu al-Hassan from the "Democratic Gathering" stated to "Nidaa al-Watan" that "the Ministry of Telecommunications should take on a fundamental part of this bill, not the Lebanese citizen, as the telecommunications sector should be productive and generate millions of dollars." He pointed out that "the citizen cannot bear the burdens of telephone pricing in US dollars according to the Sayrafa platform, which is rising, amid the erosion of all citizens' incomes, whether in the public or private sector." Therefore, Abu al-Hassan stressed the need for "the state to find a solution to this issue, and the Ministry of Telecommunications can reconsider its entire financial structure in terms of random hiring, sponsorships, tenders, donations, salaries, expenses, and rents; all these matters need to be reconsidered to reduce the bill."
