Demanding an end to the “ripping off” of consumers, social activist Freddie Kissoon and a concerned citizen yesterday turned out in front of the Digicel Guyana headquarters in Kingston to protest against the telecommunication giant’s data plans.
Kissoon was accompanied by another man and together they voiced their displeasure with the company’s alleged abuse of their “corporate rights.”
With placards in hands, the men raised their voices and called for the company to stop abusing its consumers. All the while Digicel employees watched on silently.
Speaking to Stabroek News yesterday, protestor Leonard Craig said the company’s data plans were total rip-offs to customers. Craig, who stated he was speaking on behalf of other Digicel customers, said whenever a mobile data plan expired the company would take money out of the prepaid credit account without permission.
“Digicel could charge whatever price they want but customers must have a choice as to how they want to spend their money. You cannot, at no time, deduct money from people prepaid account just because it is at your disposal,” Craig maintained.
In response, Public Relations Officer for Digicel, Vidya Bijlall-Sanichara, stated that while Craig’s statements were correct, they were not entirely true. She said customers are informed that they could only use 50 megabytes of data per day and, whenever they exceed that allocation, money would be subtracted from their main account.
She noted that customers are constantly kept up-to-date with their data allocation usage. However, she stated the company would be re-launching its data plans next week and the issue would be addressed.
Kissoon said he was raising his voice against corporate power and would participate in any movement that would bring consciousness to consumers. “This clearly is an abuse of consumers’ rights and Digicel is ripping these customers off and it must be stopped,” the activist said.
