The disabled community in Malaysia, long burdened by high telephone charges, are demanding a flat rate for local calls to alleviate the daily inconveniences that they experience.

They said the telephone provides them with enormous social and economic benefits, and remains their "main source and mode of communication with the outside world".

For disabled persons, the telephone also forms the lifeline with family, friends, doctors, rehabilitation experts, physiotherapists, pharmacists and other health service providers.

A memorandum outlining these benefits was submitted in March to the Energy, Communications and Multimedia Ministry, the National Unity and Social Development Ministry and members of parliament.

It was endorsed by 21 organisations for the disabled and 28 individuals with various disabilities.

No choice

"The phone is used for personal and disability counselling, distance-learning, and Internet access for online skills training, so that we can be self-reliant instead of being a burden to society," they say in the three-page memorandum.

"For the majority of us who have no choice but to sit at home, the telephone offers us a golden opportunity to discover job openings and be gainfully employed through telemarketing and contacting clients for direct sales, among others."

The community explains that telephone use is the best way for them to access government departments, banks and post offices because most buildings and public transportation facilities are inaccessible to wheelchair users.

"We make these demands because time-based calls stop us from achieving our aspiration of becoming equal and contributing citizens, just like our able-bodied counterparts," the memorandum says.

The main grouse of the disabled is when the time-based tariffs for local calls were first introduced in 1996, their phone bills skyrocketed and forced many to give up their lines.

Referring to the most recent tariff increase approved by the government for fixed line services effective March 1, the memorandum states that the "quality of life for people with disabilities has deteriorated even further".

"It has further isolated the disabled. We, too, pay taxes as others but we incur extra costs as a result of our disability."

The memorandum says that, since then, access to telecommunication services for people with disabilities has been either "severely restricted" or "made impossible".

Leaders of the disabled community feel that local telcos seem ignorant of their existence as paying subscribers. For instance, a four-year-old appeal to Telekom Malaysia Bhd to impose a flat-rate charge has drawn a blank.

Not special

At a human rights workshop held in Kuala Lumpur in conjunction with the International Day for the Disabled on Dec 3, disabled participant Anthony Thanasayan accused Telekom of "pampering able-bodied customers with discounts and various promotions".

"But they are totally unwilling to consider a flat-rate charge for us, knowing that our access is limited. It's unfair to us."

Telekom officials were unavailable for comments yesterday, as they were still on Hari Raya leave.

A random survey by malaysiakini of special packages for the disabled offered by fixed-line operators Telekom, Maxis Communications Bhd and Time dotCom Bhd reveals that only Telekom has made special arrangements for the disabled.

It offers a Pakej Penyayang (Package for the Disabled) comprising free monthly rental worth RM22, free directory service call to 103 worth 30 sen each, and free call transfer or call waiting features worth RM1.50 each.

However, the package is only limited to one line per residential customer, which is the source of another complaint raised at the workshop.

All three telcos also have different published tariff rates for local and national calls.

The time-based rate for local calls is set at eight sen for the first two minutes followed by four sen for every additional minute. Outstation/national calls are at 10 sen per unit, based on the Communications and Multimedia Commission regulations.

An estimated 250,000 persons with various disabilities are currently registered with the Social Welfare Department, but the United Nations estimates that one in every 10 persons in any country is disabled.