STC Demands Payment of 98 Halala

JEDDAH, 9 March 2004 — Saudi Telecom Company refused to cancel a phone number until the subscriber paid an outstanding fee of 98 halalah, Al Madinah reported yesterday. The paper said that after waiting 45 minutes at the STC branch office in order to cancel his phone number, he was surprised that the request was rejected by an STC employee because of an outstanding late fee of 98 halalah. What is strange is that the STC employee demanded the man pay the amount at the bank. The man refused to do so since it would have meant standing in line for an hour or more in order to pay a bill of less than a riyal.