Several civil society organizations are expected to take part in the agitation that will proceed in protest march up to Borella main bus stand.

The movement for the protection of consumer rights says service providers have raised call charges and is exploiting ‘reloads’ to their advantage.

President of the movement Ranjith Withanage said no permission has been obtained from the TRC to raise the charges.

He requested the TRC to look into the matter and take legal action.

With the increase of taxes by the government, call and internet charges have gone up by more than 49.5 per cent, from 27.5 pc previously, with the addition of the VAT and the NBT.

TRC director general Sunil Sirisena said they were discussing the matter with the treasury.

Harin says cannot do anything

When Sri Lanka Mirror contacted telecommunications minister Harin Fernando, he said he could not intervene in a decision taken by the finance ministry.

He said he could only considering granting a concession through other packages.

Mobitel will introduce ‘Meth Kalaguna’ for senior citizens, a free telephone with connection, plus free talk time and free data.

Also, first year university students will be given free laptops, he said.

Fernando admitted the taxes on a Rs. 100 reload had been increased by more than Rs. 19, up from Rs. 27 previously, to Rs. 46.6.

For call charges, the Rs. 1.50 per minute charge has now been raised to Rs. 2.16, he said.

The minister however claimed Sri Lanka was having one of the cheapest call charges in the world.