Internet providers have joined the pile of businesses to demand payment in foreign currency.
They were also joined by some fuel stations. ZimEye toured Gweru Wednesday and found one garage demanding payment only in forex. In the below video an attendant at the named station tells ZimEye payments can only be in foreign currency, not RTGS. VIDEO – (timeline from 08:44)
In different statements, privately-owned ZOL Zimbabwe and Liquid Telecom including the State-owned TelOne said their prices were now US$ indexed.
“TelOne would like to advise that our tariffs and charges will remain unchanged in US dollar terms. We will, however, have tariffs and charges indicated in RTGS,” the company said.
The parastatal indicated that its home basic package costs US$15 and RTGS$37 for 10 gigabytes (G) while the infinity pro package for 500 G is going for US$89 and RTGS$222,50.
Its uncapped package is pegged at US$120 and RTGS$300. The difference in prices has been drawn from the inter-bank rates.
TelOne was this week quoted by an online publication, TechZim, saying they had not increased their prices but all along the rates were in US$ and due to the introduction of a new currency by the MPS, they were simply listing their US$ prices in RTGS dollar equivalence.
On the other hand, Liquid Telecom, said their price alignment will take effect from April 5.
“Pricing of all our products and services will remain unchanged from our existing US dollar denominated base price when payment is made in US dollars. When payment is made using the RTGS dollar, the payment will be converted at the rate of 2,5,” reads part of a statement from Liquid Telecom.
ZOL Zimbabwe has also noted the adjustment of prices pointing out that they were a fair reflection of the MPS.
“ZOL is excited to announce the increase of data to all capped packages as of April 1, 2019.
“This effectively decreases the price of data per GB. ZOL understands that data is crucial to you and believes that this will enable you to get the best out of your usage and gain even more value,” it said. – Additional Reporting State Media