Telcos allow users to make calls irrespective of their balance

KATMANDU, May 12: Telecom operators allowed customers to make calls irrespective of their balance after a 6.9 Richter scale earthquake hit the country on Tuesday afternoon.

Ncell, the private telecom operator, continued to provide bonus balance of Rs 30 and 50 SMS to all customers in 12 earthquake affected districts.

Milan Sharma, corporate communication expert of Ncell, said that they continued to provide bonus balance and SMS from the earthquake of April 25 to ensure that people are able to stay connected with their friends and families at the time of disaster.Ncell subscribers in Bhaktapur, Dhading, Dolakha, Gorkha, Kavre, Ramechhap, Lamjung, Rasuwa, Nuwakot, Sindhuli, Makwanpur and Sindhupalchowk districts have been receiving bonus balance of Rs 30 and 50 SMS each since April 25.

Though Ncell has stopped its free data service for using Viber and Skype from 11 am on Tuesday, it decided to provide the service free of cost after Tuesday's earthquake.

"We have again decided to allow customers to use voice and text on Viber and Skype irrespective of the balance they possess," said Sharma.

Around 95 percent of Ncell's service, which was down during major earthquake of April 25, is up and running, according to Sharma.

Nepal Telecom (NT), the state owned telecom operator, allowed its subscribers to make calls, send SMS and use data for an hour on Tuesday even if they do not have any balance.

"We allowed customers to make call, send test messages and use data service even though they don't have any balance for an hour. The facility was started less than half an hour after the earthquake but as the situation became normal and recharge service was not disturbed, we halted the service after an hour," Buddhi Prasad Acharya, managing director of NT, told Republica.

Acharya said the facility was provided to let the people connect each other at the time ofemergency.

NT, however, will deduct the cost once the subscribers top-up their balance.

Earlier, NT had allowed its subscribers to make calls, send SMS and use data free of cost for six days after the major earthquake of April 25. During the period, NT subscribers made calls, sent SMS and used data worth Rs 1.46 billion, according to NT.

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