Bill Stipulates Prepaid Cell Phone Credits Remain Valid for One Year
RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – A bill provides that prepaid cell phone credits must have a minimum term of one year: the proposal was passed on Thursday, October 31st, by the Chamber’s Constitution and Justice Committee (CCJ).
However, the text was rejected by the Science and Technology Committee (CCT) and, therefore, lost its conclusive nature, which means it will require a vote in plenary by all deputies.
Bill 618/2007 defines that prepaid cell phones may only be blocked to receive calls after at least one year from the activation of the last credit. Operators who do not comply may suffer penalties such as a warning, fine, and temporary suspension.
The text is authored by deputy Lincoln Portela and received a constitutionality opinion from rapporteur Daniel Freitas. It is expected to be submitted to the Chamber plenary, in addition to being passed in the Senate, to then be enacted or vetoed by the president.
ANATEL‘s current regulation establishes that operators may not offer credits with a validity of less than 30 days, while also providing options of 90 or 180 days. Operators are also required to renew expired credits in the next recharge, as well as notify customers when the balance is about to expire.
Oi and TIM provide credits valid for up to 180 days.
The following is the minimum and maximum validity of prepaid top-ups in the four main operators:
- Claro provides validity between 30 days (R$10, US$2.50) and 180 days (R$100);
- Oi provides validity between 30 days (top-up below R$20) and 180 days (top-up from R$100);
- TIM provides validity between 30 days (R$15) and 180 days (R$100);
- Vivo provides credits with validity between 30 days (R$15) and 730 days (R$300).
The ‘Vivo Easy’ plan does not set an expiration date for credits, provided that the customer has some active data balance or contracted daily rate; however, it falls into the postpaid category within ANATEL’s criteria.
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