KAPITO URGES MACRA TO INTERVENE ON MOBILE SERVICE TARIFFS

Consumers Association of Malawi (CAMA) Executive Director, John Kapito has urged Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (MACRA) to take urgent action to tackle overcharging by mobile phone companies.

Kapito’s call comes barely Weeks after one of the leading mobile service provider, Airtel Malawi hiked its Blackberry services.

The development has forced some Blackberry users to sale off and others to switch to other mobile services as they cannot afford the new tariffs introduced by Airtel.

In his speech, Kapito said the higher tariffs are abusive and discriminatory and are affecting the growth of mobile service sector, and also affecting the economic and social rights of many Malawians.

“We are, therefore, requesting the Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (MACRA) to play its key role to ensure that mobile service providers are not taking advantage of the poor Malawians”, said Kapito.

According to information sourced by FaceofMalawi, Malawi is the only country in Africa that its citizen are highly charged when it comes to mobile services.

Meanwhile it is yet to be seen if MACRA will take any action on the matter to safeguard consumers as asked by Kapito.