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COVID-19: Ooredoo offers bill extensions, flexible payment plans

Ahmed Aiham
09 May 2020, MVT 21:27
Najib Khan, CEO and Managing Director of Ooredoo Maldives. FILE PHOTO: HUSSAIN WAHEED / MIHAARU
Ahmed Aiham
09 May 2020, MVT 21:27

Telecommunications giant Ooredoo Maldives on Saturday, introduced bill extensions and lenient payment plans for its customers facing financial difficulties due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Under its newly introduced schemes, customers may apply for bill pay extensions for up to two months from the bill generation date, in addition to payment plans and other flexibilities upon request.

According to Ooredoo, the company will not disconnect service for customers who are registered as unemployed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, until the end of June 2020.

Customers are urged to forward inquiries and requests to Ooreedo via - http://ore.do/billsupport

“Across the globe, we are facing unprecedented challenges due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic", said Ooredoo Maldives' CEO and Managing Director Najib Khan.

"While we work to overcome the strong challenges that the company is also facing during this crisis, our biggest priority remains the support we provide to our customers".

Minister of Economic Development Fayyaz Ismail also thanked Ooredoo for "taking an important step to ensure access to customers", adding that the efforts would "undoubtedly bring ease to many who are facing financial hardships at this time".

Maldives' capital Male' was placed under lockdown following its first recorded community transmission of COVID-19 on April 15, leaving tens of thousands of citizens dependent on telecommunication services to access crucial information and acquire essential services.

Lockdown measures in other islands across the country implemented in response to confirmed or suspected COVID-19 cases, have similarly highlighted an increased dependency and importance of uninterrupted telecommunication services.

Maldives presently records 766 confirmed cases of COVID-19 with 743 active cases, and a total of 20 recoveries and 3 deaths.

The country recorded its first COVID-19 related death, of an 83-year-old local female, on April 29. Since, two more individuals, a 33-year-old Bangladeshi man and a local 80-year-old man have succumbed to COVID-19.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has classified the spread of COVID-19 as a global pandemic. The new strain of novel coronavirus has infected over 4 million people and claimed over 277,007 lives around the world. However, out of those infected, 1.4 million people have recovered.

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