Digicel has informed the Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR) that it has halted the recent charge of a prepaid maintenance fee, to customers whose monthly spend is less than $50.

This action follows, the OUR’s intervention in response to Digicel’s implementation of the prepaid maintenance fee on June 22.

In a letter to the company, the OUR asked that it provides evidence that customers had been given sufficient advance notice about the exact amount to be charged and the basis for such a charge.

In its initial response to the OUR Digicel indicated it had issued a ‘public notice on June 22, to its customers via the Digicel website, where it also updated its terms and conditions of service.

However, in response to the OUR’s correspondence, the company  acknowledged that the implementation of the PMF may not have been customer centric and that it had not, in fact, provided sufficient notice of the change to customers.

As a result, Digicel has decided to withdraw the fee at this time.

The company says any decision to resume charging the PMF, will be preceded by proper notification to customers and the OUR.

The company also gave assurances that all affected customers who were charged this fee since June 22, have already received rebates of the amounts charged.

The OUR says given this development the company has suspended, for now, its enquiry into this matter.