Forum: Review telco practices that make it a bad deal for consumers
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I recently renewed my mobile phone plan with one of the telecom service providers.
There are different plans with various options and many add-on offerings and features. Many of the options are free for 30 or 90 days. After the free period, one has to call or visit an outlet to cancel these add-ons. The total cost of these add-ons is approximately the price of the monthly mobile phone plan.
This need to call or visit an outlet to cancel the add-ons is unfair to a subscriber as an additional cost will be charged after the free trial period.
Very often, one is unlikely to remember the expiry date of each add-on. I have looked at the add-ons and will not need any one of them.
A better approach is an automatic cancellation at the end of the free trial period and the option to call in to continue.
It’s a similar story for my cable subscription. I signed up for a plan which included ATP and WTA live tennis matches. The provider changed its sports partner once and retained ATP matches, but scaled back the WTA ones. It made changes again in 2025 and dropped both, leaving me wondering if this was the plan I signed up for.
I understand that regulators do not typically govern commercial terms. But with Singapore’s high subscription rates, these practices affect many people.
The regulator or a relevant government agency should examine whether such one-sided arrangements – where obligations shift while charges remain – constitute unfair commercial practice.
Ng Yong Hwee
