Ufone to Charge 2% Additional Maintenance Fee on Every Reload: ProPakistani

Ufone to Charge 2% Additional Maintenance Fee on Every Reload

Posted: 10 Mar 2012 07:24 AM PST

In an effort to further exceed its customers expectation (that is how they are calling it), Ufone is going to charge its customers 2 percent maintenance fee plus tax on every load, reload, card load, Ushare, etc.

In simpler words, when you will load a Rs. 100 card next time, Rs. 2.39 will be deducted in addition to all deductions that were applicable already.

This new maintenance charge will be applicable from March 17th, 2012. Here's what a notice appearing on Ufone website read:

Dear Customer, To further exceed your expectations, a maintenance charge of 2% will be applicable on every prepaid recharge from 17th March, 2012 along with government taxes.

This new wave of additional charges was started when Telenor announced 2 percent service charge (exactly one month ago) in addition to 5 percent charge it was already deducting.

It is likely that other operators will follow this and additional charges will be imposed, industry wide.

Even worse, PTA (through Dr. Muhammad Yasin, Chairman) officially told Senate Standing Committee on Cabinet Secretariat last week that authority could not ask operators to fix service charges. Dr. Yasin said that setting a ceiling price is impossible because the cost of operators has gone up due to increase in power tariff.

Committee members had proposed PTA to fix a ceiling on account of service charges that cellular operators regularly impose on mobile phone customers. But it appears authority is siding the telecom companies, leaving behind its motto of protecting consumers.

After PTA's this decision of not regulating service charges, Competition Commission of Pakistan is the only hope for consumers, which can restrict operators from imposing such charges at industry level.

It merits mentioning here that government is also considering to impose 2 % radio tax on every reload from July 2012.

IT Industry Tops #Pakistan100 Company Index

Posted: 10 Mar 2012 01:00 AM PST

Pakistan's IT industry has been showing a tremendous performance in terms of fastest business expansion, revenues growth and employment generation in the short period of time.

This is evident as number of companies offering software services and products, computer networking and development solutions are leading the #Pakistan100 business index.

These companies have gained a limelight and secured positions in recently announced #Pakistan100 index of AllWorldNetwork for year 2012 showing high revenue growth potential with constant success and recognitions at global platforms in the recent years.

Software Services and Products

According to the research report released by AllWorldNetwork, there are 12 companies categorized under software services and products that have been listed and ranked in #Pakistan100.

The software companies have generated total revenue of US $46.491 million in last year and secured sixth position in terms of turnover among different other sectors.

The fastest growing IT companies were:

Arbisoft (Pvt) Limited with 385 percent growth;
Expert System with 148 percent growth;
Tenpearls with 126 percent growth

Computer Networking and Software

There were four emerging companies in this sector with total turnover reached at US$19.64 million registered in 2010.

The companies naming Confiz Solutions with 90 percent growth; Mushko Electronic with 40 percent growth; Mustang Security Services with 28 percent growth and Ideal Distribution line with 10 percent growth secured top positions in the category for year in 2008-10.

High-Tech and Telecommunication Sector

There were four companies qualified in the #Pakistan100 business index including i2c with 217 percent growth; Nayatel with 173 percent growth; Multilynx with 76 percent growth and Corvit Networks with 14 percent growth in 2008-10.

The overall revenues of these companies stood at US $41.06 million during last year, with constant growth in revenues and operations forecast in the next two years.

E-Commerce and Web services

There are four companies indexed in the #Pakistan100 which are expected to show outstanding growth in the present year.

These prominent companies are Jaangda Agencies, A2Z creators, Bramerz and Webiz Media. The overall turnover was registered at US$ 6.92 million in previous year.

These companies have continued to impart a remarkable contribution in the economy with introduced advanced solutions and applications in services and different business. The companies have not only created direct and indirect jobs but also allied businesses, shaping growth and trends in the market as emerging potential companies in the country.

Other IT Companies in #Pakistan100 Ranking:

Rozee.PK secured 12 position in overall ranking under the category of Recruitment and Training. Rozee's growth rate was recorded at 304 percent during last one year.
Folio2 stood 17th in the #Pakistan100 ranking in the category "Professional, Scientific and Tech Services"
Tradekey was ranking 31st in over all ranking under the category of "Professional, Scientific and Tech Services"

You might also like to view this research report prepared for #Pakistan100 companies (PDF file – 928 KB)

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Saturday, March 10, 2012