‘Don’t publish names of delinquent customers’
The chairman of the House Committee of Public Utilities, Transportation and Communications yesterday asked Pacific Telecom Inc. to reconsider its plan to publish the names of delinquent customers in local newspapers.
Rep. Francisco Dela Cruz said the plan was a form of public humiliation.
“While I find that PTI has the right to go this route instead of the normal practice of sending out notices of disconnection, I also find that this is uncalled for,” Dela Cruz told acting PTI general manager Larry Knecht in a letter. [I]“Mungha ma‚ na mancha I na‚ an I taotao siha ni un sesetbe.[/I] (Do not stain the names of the people you are serving).”
Dela Cruz maintained that the standard practice of sending out notices to delinquent subscribers was effective enough. If customers are not settling their debts, PTI could simply stop the service provided them and then charge a reasonable cost of reconnection, he said.
“Saipan, Tinian, and Rota are small communities. Everyone knows one another. It is for these reasons that I ask you, not to proceed with your plans to publicly announce names due to their inability to pay their bills. Again, please deal with your customers accordingly, not publicly,” Dela Cruz said.
The latest billings sent to PTI customers came with a notice that, beginning this month, the telecom firm will stop sending disconnection notices by U.S. mail on the 14th of the month. PTI cited as reason the lack of home postal delivery in the Commonwealth.
“Due to the method of postal delivery in the CNMI, many customers do not pick up notices prior to the disconnection date, and as a result, service is interrupted. Notification will now be made in the local newspapers for three days prior to disconnection. The disconnection notices date will be printed on the PTI bill. Again, disconnection notices will no longer be sent by mail,” a portion of the notice read.
PTI also said that service would be disconnected if a customer failed to pay before the disconnection date. Reconnection charges will be assessed if service is disconnected.