DAMMAM, 24 November 2003 — Agents for prepaid SAWA cards are allegedly creating a false shortage in the Eastern Province in order to hike the price, according to retailers in Dammam and Alkhobar.
Just a few days ago, the cards were easily available in the market at a discounted rate. Some retailers were selling a SR100 denomination card for as little as SR96. But as the Eid holidays neared the cards started disappearing from the market and prices went up to between SR104 and SR110 per card.
Traditionally, expatriates call their family members back home during Eid holidays, and as a result SAWA cards are in great demand.
Saudi Telecom Company (STC) uses agents to sell SAWA prepaid cards throughout the Kingdom. Authorized agents like Interkey, Alo, Al-Salamah and Zajil in turn sell cards to retailers at a prescribed rate of SR94. The retailer then sells them for SR100, the recommended retail price, earning a profit of SR6 for each card. But retailers now complain that in the last few days these agents have either not been supplying sufficient cards to the retailers or are selling them at premium rates.
One agent, for example, is selling cards to retailers at SR97.50 for each card — SR3.50 more than the STC’s fixed rate. Another agent sold only 500 cards to one retailer who wanted to buy 3,000 cards.
“Our normal sales in lean times are around 1,500 cards a month, and for Eid we doubled our request, but the retailer supplied only 500 cards saying STC was not giving him sufficient cards,” said the manager of a supermarket chain in Dammam on condition of anonymity.
Retailers say that the agents are putting the blame on STC for the shortage of cards, but that the shortage is created by the agents themselves. Some agents are supplying sufficient cards to retailers only if they are buying other products from them.
