The Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) has revised the early termination fees of telecom contracts in favour of consumers. The new rule where new customers need to pay one month fee for early termination will replace the previous provision which required customers to pay termination fees equal to one month rent multiplied by the number of months left on the contract.
The new amendment is effective only for new individual plans, however the TRA is working on plans to bring the new provision to other services’ contracts as well.
TRA aims to come in line with international practices and wants to make it easier for customers to calculate the costs of the services they wish to use.
On these amendments, H.E. Hamad Obaid Al Mansoori, TRA Director General, says, “The new amendment comes in response to the complaints of some customers, since the previous provisions forced the customer to commit to using the service until the end of the contract, despite their unwillingness to do so sometimes. Now, the user can terminate the service contract and choose another service, for a simple charge equals one month fee, which is considered operational fees. In TRA, we ensure that we will continue our mission of monitoring the market to ensure the implementation of the new provisions.”