WHEREAS, Memorandum Circular (MC) No. 04-07-2009 was promulgated to address concerns on œdisappearing and/or vanishing loads  by, among others, prohibiting the sending or initiating of push messages;

WHEREAS, MC No. 04-07-2009 provides that a subscriber who wants to avail of the services offered by content and/or information service providers and/or PTEs may avail of such services only through his/her operative act of communication with  the  content  and/or  information  providers  and/or  PTEs  through  written correspondence, text messaging, internet or other similar means of communications;

WHEREAS, the number of complaints on unauthorized/disputed prepaid load deductions is increasing;

NOW, THEREFORE, pursuant to Republic Act 7925, Executive Order 546 series of 1979, and to minimize if not to eliminate unauthorized/disputed prepaid load deductions, the National Telecommunications Commission hereby promulgates the following guidelines:

1.    Content  and/or  Information  providers  and/or  PTEs  shall  ensure  that consumers/subscribers who avail or opt-in to a content and/or information service, through the internet or other means, receive opt-in confirmation. The opt-in confirmation text message shall provide clear and concise disclosure of the content and/or information service ™s name, description, and frequency of content and/or information that the consumer/subscriber will receive in a specified period (such as per day, week or month), complete terms and conditions or link to the complete terms and conditions, cost or rates, privacy policy or link to privacy policy, customer care contract information and clear and user-friendly opt-out instructions.

2.    Content and/or information providers and/or PTEs shall implement at least double opt-in confirmation process.

3.    Content and/or Information providers and/or PTEs shall keep records of the opt-in and opt-out requests from the time a user/subscriber initiates opt-in for at least six (6) months after the user has opted out of the contents/service or until ordered by the Commission for records subject of complaints.

4.    Content and/or Information service providers and/or PTEs shall establish a system/platform that shall inform the subscriber/user of his/her remaining balance as he/she may deem necessary. The system/platform shall be submitted to the Commission within ten (10) working days of effectivity of this Memorandum Circular for review and approval. Any modification on the approved system/platform shall be submitted to the Commission for approval before implementation. Content and/or Information providers and/or PTEs shall also send op-out instructions at least once a week. These shall be free of charge.

5.    Content and/or information providers and/or PTEs shall provide a system that shall accept the universal keywords œSTOP , œEND , œCANCEL , œUNSUBSCRIBE , and œQUIT , whether lower case or uppercase or combination, to opt-out.

6.   Complaints on unauthorized/disputed prepaid load deductions shall be filed within thirty (30) days from date of receipt of the prepaid load balance, otherwise the prepaid load balance is considered correct.

7.   Opting-in and opting out and calls or texts to customer service hotlines shall be free of charge.

8.    Violations  of  herein  prescribed  guidelines  shall  be  imposed  penalties pursuant to existing laws, rules and regulation.

9.    This memorandum circular shall take effect fifteen (15) days after publication in a newspaper of general circulation, and three (3) certified true copies furnished to the UP Law Center.

Quezon City, Philippines 30 August 2018.

(SGD) GAMALIEL A. CORDOBA
Commissioner