Members of Parliament have asked the Minister of Information, Communication, Technology and National Guidance, to explain the failure of telecom companies to reinstate the use of airtime scratch cards.
Like we told you last year, the Uganda Communications Commission had set a July 31, 2018 deadline for the use of airtime scratch cards and migration to the use of easy load. Parliament in the following month stepped in the way, and asked the government to put the ban on hold.
The Speaker argued that the ban on airtime scratch cards would affect the very rural community areas that were less aware of the technological developments since they entirely relied on scratch cards.
The Minister of ICT & NG would then promise to convince UCC to reconsider the decision, and have both the scratch cards and e-airtime available to the public.
According to Parliament, dialogue took place and a consensus was reached between the MPs, UCC and the telecom companies’ representatives that the cards be reinstated.
That was August 2018.
Now, the legislators are demanding for a response from the minister given that the airtime scratch cards have never resurfaced.
In the Parliamentary sitting of Tuesday, 29 January 2019, Hon. Paul Akamba noted how the banning of airtime scratch cards and replacing them with mobile airtime easy load in upcountry areas was inconveniencing.
“People deep down in the villages cannot access mobile airtime easy load because of the inconsistent network and inconsistent power supply; one needs a charged mobile phone to operate easy load,” he said.
Hon. Henry Kibalya added that the representatives from the telcos thought that easy load would be more convenient forgetting that airtime vouchers are easier to circulate.
“The airtime vouchers can be bought in bulk and re-circulated without the need of a charged phone with network, something that is crucial in remote areas,” he said.
The Speaker, Rebecca Kadaga, instructed the Minister of ICT and National Guidance to issue a statement explaining the failure of the the telecom networks to bring back the scratch cards.
