ST, April 14, 2006
KUALA LUMPUR - MALAYSIA'S largest telecommunications company blamed
a debt collection agency yesterday for a misplaced decimal point
that resulted in a RM800 trillion (S$350 trillion) phone bill that
was sent to a dead man.
Government-linked Telekom Malaysia said the agency mistakenly sent
out the notice demanding RM806,400,000,000,000.01 instead of the
actual RM80.640000000000001. It threatened court action if the bill
was not paid.
'It is a mistake,' Telekom spokesman Mariam Bevi Batcha said. 'It's
clearly not Telekom Malaysia's fault. We have given a stern warning
to the debt collection agency.' She declined to name the
agency.
The dead man's son, Mr Yahaya Wahab, said earlier this week that he
had disconnected his father's phone line in January and settled an
RM84 bill. He nearly fainted when he saw the new bill, he
said.
Ms Mariam said the company was waiting for a full report from the
agency. -- ASSOCIATED PRESS
