Prices in Türkiye have been on the rise for a very long time, with a high inflation rate over 50%. While inflation impacts all sectors, the significant increase in operator prices has recently become the topic of interest, considering that, allegedly, the quality is decreasing while prices are continuously increasing.
The topic first caught coverage on X with people complaining about how even though their packets have a greater amount of mobile data now, it lasts for a shorter time and costs almost triple the old price. For example, someone who used to use 25 GB a month now needs much more internet, even though they use their mobile data exactly as they did before.
Recently, Deniz Akbıyık, a lawyer, made a post touching on the subject and asking others if they are suffering from the same issue. Akbıyık’s post reached over 3 million people, and thousands who have the same problem commented on the post. In a later post, she stated that she had tried to reach her operator but wasn’t able to. She added that she had tried to solve the issue by legal methods but turned to social media when her efforts didn’t work, criticizing that the real problem isn’t the increasing prices or the mobile data that runs out too quickly but rather the fact that the customers are not informed about what they are paying for and why they are paying for it.
Some believe that the issue may be a result of operators not wanting to increase their prices according to inflation and rather decreasing the contents of the packages. The problem is, however, that mobile data package prices have increased at a higher rate than the inflation rate, disproving the aforementioned assumption. Besides, the fact that customers aren’t informed about this decrease makes it illegal, which is the most concerning aspect.
It is advised for customers suffering from the same issue to create a complaint to their operators and then create a BTK (Information Technologies and Communications Authority) complaint from e-Devlet, which allows access to the services offered by public institutions quickly and securely. If the issue still persists and they aren’t enlightened with the updated information, they can appeal to the consumer arbitration board.
In addition to the shortened data lifespan, customers are especially concerned with the price increases of these data packages. Some operators like Turkcell force their customers to change their packages whenever the twelve-month commitment duration is up. After the time is up, they always tell the customers that their old package is no longer available and convince them to change to a different package, which is almost always more expensive. They also don’t offer the same packages to everyone. While new customers are presented with cheaper package options, old customers often have fewer options to choose from, which are more expensive. For example, when the twelve-month duration of a 12GB Star+ package that costs 215 TL is up, the customer will be presented with a 15GB Star+ package that costs 500 TL. Star+ and Platinum packages are among the pricier packages, but they are also the only two types of packages that are offered to older customers.
A Turkish citizen who has traveled to Moldova proved the validity of these arguments by comparing the operator prices in Türkiye to those abroad and found that in Türkiye, a package including 6GB of mobile data costs 400 TL, whereas in Moldova, a package with 60GB of mobile data costs 200 TL. This fact caused the controversy to grow even more.
Amid the rising complaints, Türk Telekom’s CEO Ümit Önal made a mocking statement on the subject, saying, "The packages are cheaper than water."
After the concerns about the prices of operator packages were covered in the media, they were carried to the Turkish Grand National Assembly (TBMM) by the Republican People's Party’s (CHP) Bursa Member of Parliament Hasan Öztürk. He and his 19 colleagues signed a motion to the Parliament to investigate the extravagant pricing of these packages. In their motion, the Parliament Members requested the establishment of a commission to look into how package rates are determined, whether unfair pricing is being applied to these packages, and the impacts of these high prices on citizens.
Mehmet Bülent Deniz, the president of the Consumer Union Federation, made a statement about operator prices, saying that "the price increase by communication companies ignores the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Turkish Constitution, the Universal Service Law No. 5369, TÜIK data, and the Medium-Term Program." He added that the operator companies appear to be taking an "opportunistic approach" to the reality that communication is now a matter of consumption due to technological advancements.