"The value of the prepaid minute is more expensive than other services the mobile companies offer and can be up to three times more expensive. To be exact, the prepaid minute is three times more expensive," said the Auditor General's Office (AGN) in the report published this year. The federal watchdog further explained that the main purpose of the prepaid phone card, which is basically to make cell phones accessible to low income families, has been deemed “distorted”.

Even though the auditors acknowledged that "it is a free market economy," meaning that the final prices are not regulated, every mobile company seems to be completely different from the next. The phone company Claro sent their pricing data to the National Communications Commission (NCC), explaining that with a $15 card a consumer pays $0.87 per minute while the postpaid, for example the "Plan 180", costs $0.30. Similarly, another competing phone company called Personal charges about $0.50 a minute with a monthly plan, while with a prepaid phone card the pricing rises to $2,25. Meanwhile, Movistar, another popular phone company does not even inform their pricing to the NCC.   

The price of the call varies according to the value of the prepaid phone card:

According to the AGN, it is "inexcusable to have the prices vary according to how much the prepaid phone card is worth. If the talking time, the cell phone band, and company are the same, the price should be the same”. The federal watchdog explains that “the [fact that] the pricing per minute is not information offered to the public is the most aggravating factor in this dilemma. The consumer is unaware that the values change significantly."

Another important aspect reported by AGN is the way that mobile providers calculate the consumption when the consumer uses both forms of consumption, for example, using the prepaid phone card and a fixed monthly fee. The report, which evaluates all services offered from January 2008 through December 2010, argues that "companies consume the prepaid balance first and the monthly fee later, even though the latter has an earlier expiration date." This means that "if you do not use your monthly quota of minutes available, the expiration date on the prepaid phone card will run out before the consumer even uses it”. Not a lot of investigation is needed to see that the expiration dates of the prepaid cards are very short. Due to this information, the AGN stated that "the decision on how the balance is spent should be up to the consumers, not the mobile companies.” 

It is also worth mentioning that "prepaid cards, in some cases, do not meet the requirements set forth in the resolution that regulates them (242/06). For example, the font size is smaller than the expected, the description of the service provided is unclear and the cards that have promotions show different amounts than the consumer is actually given."

Despite these shortcomings, the audit found no record that the NCC will apply sanctions to cell phone companies. As stated in the report, even though the Consumer Protection Undersecretary found other irregularities, as for example "not fulfilling its obligation to inform consumers of their plans and rates each month", it appears as though there will not be any consequences.