KARACHI, July 23: The Pakistan Telecommunication Company has inconvenienced its subscribers of Southern Telecommunication Region II by issuing phone bills containing outstanding dues of value-added services.

PTCL sources told Dawn on Wednesday that negligence on the part of the accounts department was responsible for the fact that charges of value-added services used by consumers had not been included in the phone bills previously. They added that while the outstanding dues of value-added services, such as caller’s line identification, were valid, they had inconvenienced consumers because they would have to pay the amount lump sum.

The sources said that outstanding dues of value-added services worth Rs50 million had been billed by the phone utility in July. They added that shortly the consumers of Southern Telecommunication Region III would also be issued bills containing outstanding dues of value-added services.

When contacted, a spokesman for the PTCL admitted that the phone utility should have been prompt in billing charges of value-added services. “The value-added services charges should have been billed on a monthly basis. Because of a technical error, this did not happen. However, the PTCL is offering an instalment facility to consumers so that they do not have to pay the entire amount lump sum if they cannot afford to do so.”

VOICE MAIL SERVICE: The PTCL sources told Dawn that complaints about voice mail services were on the rise. They added that because of a technical error the voice mail services were not operational in many areas of the city.