Mobile subscribers in Azerbaijan are questioning why packages they regard as monthly expire after 28 days, forcing them to renew more often while unused data and call minutes are lost.
In a television report on the issue covered by Vesti Baku, customers asked why a package lasts four weeks when most calendar months have 30 or 31 days.
The difference adds up over a year. Twelve 28-day packages cover only 336 days, while 13 cover 364 days. A subscriber therefore needs about 13 packages, rather than the familiar 12 monthly payments, for almost a full year of uninterrupted service.
For illustration, if a package costs 20 manats (about $11.76), paying for 13 periods would cost 260 manats (about $152.94), compared with 240 manats (about $141.18) for 12 calendar-month packages. At the same package price, 13 payments cost about 8.3% more than 12. These are hypothetical figures, not the price of a specific offer. Dollar equivalents use the Central Bank’s Oct. 20 rate of 1.7 manats to the dollar.
What Operators Say
One operator, responding to the report’s authors, said its high-volume internet packages were offered for a predetermined period that was not tied to a calendar month.
The company said 28-day cycles were also used in other countries, allowed services to be managed at equal intervals and simplified reporting. Depending on the offer, internet packages can remain valid for 1, 7, 14, 21 or 28 days.
The same approach applies to remaining allowances. The data and minutes included in a package are intended for use within the paid period, the operator said. Once that period ends, unused allowances do not carry over to the next one.
Customers thus face two concerns: packages expire before a calendar month has passed, and resources they have paid for but not used disappear.
Terms Must Be Disclosed in Advance
According to a response from Azerbaijan’s state agency responsible for antimonopoly control and consumer market supervision, cited in the broadcast, operators may set their own telecommunications tariffs and payment arrangements.
However, subscribers must be informed in advance about a package’s validity period, usage rules and other essential terms, the agency said.
How an offer is presented therefore matters. A clearly stated 28-day validity period lets customers calculate their actual spending. Treating that offer as monthly produces a different expectation: the renewal date keeps moving earlier, and budgeting for 12 payments a year no longer works.
Subscribers also proposed carrying unused minutes and data forward when a package is renewed. The operator’s response indicated that the model described in the report does not provide for such rollover.
Source: Vesti Baku.