MORE than 250,000 telephone subscribers can expect to pay cheaper bills and may possibly benefit from a multi-million-dollar rebate from telephone services operator Telecommunications Services of Trinidad and Tobago (TSTT). An investigation revealed consumers had been over-charged for a variety of services over a four-year period. The Regulated Industries Commission (RIC) invited the media to its Wrightson Road, Port of Spain, headquarters yesterday to elaborate on its March 29 decision to call upon TSTT to drop its rates. The RIC is charged with the responsibility of monitoring the quality of service provided by WASA, T&TEC, TSTT, Powergen and InnCogen and ensuring that the utilities provide those services at a fair and reasonable rate to consumers. RIC chairman Dennis Pantin was careful in his response when asked if TSTT would now have to refund some 268,000 consumers who had been overcharged for telephone services, as much as over four per cent, between 1999-2003. \"During 1999-2003, the RIC found that TSTT had surpassed its maximum rate of return (of 15 per cent). The average rate of return over the period has been 19.1 per cent. We are in fact seeking to ensure that we get the best legal advice in terms of redress, in terms of your question of a possible rebate. \"At this point, that is under legal review... we cannot categorically say what will happen in terms of the possibility of redress over the 1999-2003 period but we certainly are investigating the legal ramifications involved.\" Pantin said the RIC had advised TSTT to drop its rate of return to 15 per cent in the first instance and noted that it was normal for TSTT to resist such a recommendation. TSTT, in response, stated that the RIC's recommendations with respect to dropping the rates \"are not consistent with the new Telecommunications Act or even with the RIC Act itself\". \"TSTT views it as unfortunate that the RIC may have, by its (initial press) release on the provision and pricing of certain of TSTT's services, raised expectations of the public which TSTT will be unable to meet,\" the organisation stated. However, Pantin said, \"We are still optimistic\" that TSTT will accept the advice of the RIC which intends to hold discussions with the State-owned corporation to clarify the basis of the recommendations. \"Let me suggest that perhaps TSTT, on first reflection, appears to be misreading the elements of the RIC Act under which we have taken this decision and therefore they have responded like that,\" Pantin said in response to TSTT's full-page advertisement. \"What we will do, of course, is engage them in discussion in order to ensure that we have clarification of these issues. It is not unusual in instances like this, where the initial response of the entity involved is to resist and to make certain claims. But we anticipate that after we in fact sit down with TSTT and clarify the basis and the clear linkage between what the RIC Act requires and the decision, that they will in fact, if they wish, amend their initial response and salvo,\" Pantin said. The chairman emphasised, however, that the RIC had at its disposal mechanisms under the RIC Act to trigger a review of TSTT rates \"but we do not anticipate it would get to that and therefore I think we should simply be hopeful that good sense would prevail\". Executive director of the RIC Harjinder Atwal said that among the recommendations made by the RIC to TSTT to reduce its rates were the reduction in its monthly rental fee, a reduction in international calling rates, a fixed local rate applicable throughout both Trinidad and Tobago and for low-income earners who can only afford a one-way service, allow them to make emergency calls and pay an even lower telephone rental fee. Pantin said TSTT has been given one month, from last week, to come up with a proposal on how it intends to reduce its rates and three month to put the plan into force. He added that the RIC was not \"trying to micro-manage\" TSTT telephone operations but rather bring the organisation within the confines of the law to assist poor citizens
