Bill on ‘roll-over’ Internet data gets House nod

MANILA – All internet service providers (ISPs) may soon be required to implement a roll-over data allocation system for their subscribers wherein unused data for the month is carried over to the next month after a bill was approved on final reading at the House of Representatives on Tuesday.

Voting 244-0-0, the lower chamber passed House Bill 9057, or the Roll-Over Internet Act which seeks to mandate and institutionalize the roll-over data allocation scheme.

The bill guarantees that end users of Internet services will get the most from and enjoy to the fullest the data allocation that they pay for.

Roll-over data allocation refers to the unused Internet data allocation per day, week, or month, depending on the applicable data package, which shall be carried over until it is fully consumed.

It directs the ISPs to roll over the unused and accumulated data every month up until the last month of the year and all unused data allocation for a year may be used and converted as rebates, which may be used as payment for Internet service in the succeeding year of subscription.

Subscribers with unlimited data packages are exempted from the Act, filed on March 18, 2021.

Penalties for failure to comply include a fine of PHP50,000 per violation, and a fine and revocation of the ISP’s license and franchise for repeated violations.