Globe to charge late payment fee

GLOBE Telecom Inc. will be charging a late payment fee of P50 for postpaid customers starting Dec. 1, 2023 to encourage on-time payments and avoid service interruptions.

This will apply to mobile postpaid, Platinum, and Globe at Home broadband postpaid accounts as stipulated in the subscription agreement, Globe said in a statement on Friday.

“For the longest time, Globe had deferred charging the late payment fee even though this is included in the terms and conditions of our postpaid subscription agreement,” Globe Vice President Darius Delgado said.

“With today’s business environment when other sectors and even the government are charging late payment fees, we believe that the telco sector may follow suit,” he added.

“In our case, only postpaid customers who comprise less than 5 percent of our total mobile customer base will be charged.”

The telco came under fire from the House of Representatives’ Makabayan bloc, which urged the firm to reconsider the new policy as internet and mobile communications are considered essential services for Filipinos.

However, Globe said that the late payment fee is part of the firm’s subscription agreement with customers. It added that this has been a standard practice for services with monthly recurring bills including banks and credit card companies.

Subscribers, who believe they were charged late payment fees by mistake or have questions on their billing can contact the customer service department to rectify confirmed errors, the firm said.

“Our customers don’t have to worry about the late payment fee if they pay on time,” Delgado said.

“This fee is not meant to burden them but to encourage them to make prompt payments for uninterrupted connectivity services. We want to veer away from the usual practice of disconnecting services over unpaid balances.”

Globe’s share price rose by P2 to settle at P1,762 apiece on Friday.