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The NTC's Telecommunication Consumer Protection Institute's director Pravit Leesathapornwongsa said that in the past few months, the institute had received about 100 complaints from mobilephone customers that they had been charged Bt107 as a service renewal fee by service operators while under NTC rules mobilephone operators can charge only the fixed monthly payments. This is not fair for consumers, he added.

"It is unfair for customers to pay a renewal fee to operators because all they do is put the information into a computer, which does not generate any expense for the operators," he said.

"If they charge this kind of fee they have violated the law and they have to refund the customers this money. Even if it is only Bt107, if they charge many thousands of customers they get a good deal of money," he added.

Pravit is now collecting the numbers of customers who have been charged the renewal fee and will then file a petition with the NTC to issue an order to the operators to stop charging this fee.

He said he would invite the mobilephone operators to explain this renewal charge. If their explanation is not satisfactory, he will take it up with the NTC.

However, he said customers have other options such as filing a lawsuit against phone companies. He said the 2008 Procedural Act for Consumer Protection Cases would be effective on August 23 and it would help consumers get compensation as soon as possible.