In recent weeks, reports of purchased internet package data running out prematurely have drawn reactions from users on social media, and many have confirmed this issue and demanded accountability from those responsible. Others raised questions about the possibility of pursuing the matter through official channels.
Regardless of factors such as use of VPNs or proxies, online games, automatic app updates on phones, viruses, and uploading files to cloud drives that reduce internet data, receiving such text messages has caused dissatisfaction among social media users. They complain about packages ending early and call the reason for rapid depletion of internet data puzzling.
Some users, expressing dissatisfaction with internet "data-eating," say that when packages end early they should not purchase a new package and prefer to switch to another operator for buying internet packages until this issue is resolved.
In this regard, Seyed Sattar Hashemi - Minister of Communications and Information Technology - recently, during a visit to ISNA news agency, said the claim of internet "data-eating" would be examined thoroughly and, warning various operators, described this matter as his red line.
He emphasized: this issue was raised in the meeting and I announced that if this matter is proposed as a hypothesis, operators have one week to prepare a detailed report. If this hypothesis is proven to me, I will personally take serious action against that operator. In the meeting I stressed that we are one family and this family has dignity. Therefore, if someone disrespects this family, they should know they have crossed our red line at the Ministry of Communications and will be confronted.
The minister asked mobile operators to present their investigation reports on this issue precisely and said that the Communications Regulatory Authority has been assigned to enter this matter specially, announcing that if a violation is proven, the offending operator will be dealt with severely.
Hashemi, regarding the increase in internet usage, also said: the point is that genuinely, in line with technological development and today's capacity, consumption also increases and this is natural. Data usage increases continuously with technology advancement. Just as the internet is the right of people, the traffic consumed by people, commensurate with their payment, is certainly also the people's right. If any violation has occurred in this regard, we will deal with it seriously and the relevant operator will be obliged to compensate, because this too is a breach of law and regulations.
Apart from the claim of data-eating, it should be said that any information sent to cyberspace will be deducted from the phone's internet data. For example these days everyone uses Instagram and Telegram and various social networks or views their posts and tweets on Twitter. When you open your browser and search for something, your internet data is still consumed. At the same time, listening to music and online podcasts in apps also causes a song to play multiple times and each listen deducts from your data, in which case it is recommended to download the desired song instead of listening to it repeatedly.
Currently, given complaints from some people and users about internet packages ending and the so-called internet data-eating, which is among the most frequent concerns of users, the question arises: if an internet package ends sooner than expected, by what method can this matter be pursued?
If after checking your phone settings you find that the recorded usage on your mobile differs significantly from the amount deducted by the operator, you can pursue the matter legally. It is enough to register a complaint for under-delivery or incorrect calculation of internet data at the 195 system (the complaint registration and response system of the Ministry of Communications) and submit your documents and evidence.
Previously, the Communications Regulatory Authority, in response to users' dissatisfaction with premature ending of internet packages-which indicated concern about how internet data is calculated and consumed and that purchased internet packages run out faster than usual-had stated that subscribers' internet consumption of mobile operators is continuously and accurately monitored by this organization, and users can compare data usage through phone settings with package consumption and, if there is a discrepancy, register their complaint via https://195.cra.ir and send the tracking code to this organization for follow-up.
One of the important issues that has been seriously and round-the-clock on the agenda of the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology since the beginning of the fourteenth government is improving internet quality and expanding access; a legitimate demand that people and users have from the Ministry of Communications, and the least expectation is that access alongside internet quality and speed be provided properly. At the same time, knowing ways to manage package data largely helps identify and avoid factors that cause reduction of phone internet data.
In any case, according to what the minister had promised, today the one-week deadline for operators to present a detailed report regarding the validity of the claim of internet data-eating has ended, and we must wait and see whether any violation occurred or not?/ ISNA