VENDORS at Mingalar Market in Yangon have complained to the market’s private telephone service provider that they are being overcharged for the service or are being billed for calls they never made.

Phone service at the market has been provided since 1999 by privately owned Kyaw Zeyar Company Limited.

“When I get the phone bill and check the list of calls I can see that I am being overcharged,” said the owner of a shop on the second floor of the market.

He said that once he suspected he was being overcharged he started keeping a careful record of his calls, which he compared with his monthly bill.

“In one month I made three long-distance calls but the bill claimed I had made 10 calls. I also found a three-minute difference between the exchange board’s record and my list,” he said.

“Now I have to spend too much time keeping records of my calls,” the shop owner said, adding that he has been refunded by the company five times for overcharges.

“I don’t mind paying for the phone service I use but I don’t want to be overcharged,” he said.

Another vendor at the market said that when he complains about overcharging, the phone company lays the blame on the automated exchange boards.

“I try to negotiate with the supervisor of the phone company about the charges but in the end they will cut off the line if I don’t pay,” he said.

Phone users at the market who suspect they are being overcharged can buy a detailed list of phone calls from Kyaw Zeyar Co., Ltd for K2000.

The phone charges from Mingalar Market are K15 a minute for local calls, K25 for long-distance calls or calls to local mobile phone numbers, and K35 for calls to long-distance mobile numbers.

“If phone users redial several times trying to contact a number, the bill will go up,” said Ko Nyi Nyi, supervisor of Kyaw Zeyar Co., Ltd.

He also explained that the company had installed two different exchange boards – one made in Japan and the other in South Korea – to accommodate 800 phone lines in the market.

He said the two boards keep records differently, with the Japan-made board starting the record as soon the connection is made and the Korean board starting the record 20 seconds after the number is dialed.

“So I cancel the charges for calls of less than one minute, especially for long-distance calls,” he said.

“I have dealt with the complaints as well as I can but the vendors cannot supply records as accurately as a computer can. There might be some problems with the vendors keeping records when they are very busy,” said Ko Nyi Nyi.