Senator Loren Legarda has filed a bill seeking to lower regular prepaid call and text rates and make paid regular load non-expiring while also strengthening consumer protections against unexpected deductions and unclear promo pricing.

The proposed SULIT Load Act would require the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC), together with the Department of Information and Communications Technology, Department of Trade and Industry and Philippine Competition Commission, to review and rationalize regular prepaid rates for SMS, mobile calls, data and mobile-to-landline calls.

The review would consider actual costs, market competition, prevailing promo rates, consumer usage and regional pricing.

Pending the review, the bill proposes interim maximum default rates of P0.50 per SMS, P2 per minute for domestic mobile calls and P3 per minute for mobile-to-landline calls.

Legarda said regular load should not remain an expensive fallback for subscribers who have exhausted a promo allocation, failed to register for a promo or need to make an urgent call.

“Kung kaya nang magbigay ng napakamurang calls, texts, at data sa iba't ibang promo, dapat may makatwirang presyo rin para sa ordinaryong paggamit. Hindi dapat napaparusahan ang isang subscriber dahil lang naubos ang promo niya o kailangan niyang tumawag agad,” she said.

The measure would also require telecommunications companies to provide clearer pricing information for prepaid promos, including the effective cost per gigabyte of data, call minute, SMS and landline call minute, along with the total price, validity period, restrictions and treatment of unused allocations.

“Dapat madaling makita kung magkano talaga ang binabayaran kada GB, kada minuto ng tawag, o kada text,” Legarda said.

Under the bill, paid regular prepaid load would not expire as long as the subscriber's account remains active. It would also prohibit the unjustified forfeiture or deletion of prepaid value already purchased.

The proposal also seeks to address the cost of calling landlines and essential service numbers used by banks, hospitals, schools, utilities, airlines, government offices and customer service centers.

It directs the NTC to consider lower rates, affordable packages, toll-free or shared-cost arrangements and other safeguards for prepaid subscribers calling essential service numbers.

Government agencies providing frontline services would likewise be required to establish at least one mobile-accessible contact channel to reduce reliance on landline numbers that may be costly for prepaid users.

The bill further proposes free balance and usage monitoring, advance notices before out-of-promo charges begin, safeguards against accidental mobile data deductions and mechanisms for refunds or restoration of improperly deducted load.

“Long overdue na ang ganitong proteksyon. Mabilis ang naging pag-unlad ng telecommunications industry, at dapat maramdaman din iyon ng consumer sa presyo, transparency, at paraan ng pagtrato sa load na binayaran niya,” Legarda said.