TCRA sensitises public on refurbished phones

DAR ES SALAAM: THE Tanzania Communication Regulatory Authority (TCRA) said it currently sensitises the members of the public to refrain from using the refurbished mobile phones.

TCRA’s Director General Dr Jabiri Bakari said his office was aware of availability of refurbished phones in the market.

“Education to phone users is among the earliest initiatives taken whereby we use different communication platforms to educate phone users on the disadvantages of using those handsets,” Dr Bakar stated.

He said the authority in collaboration with other authorities combats refurbished phones in the market, asking people to collaborate in reporting traders selling refurbished phones.

“There are actions taken in combating any communication devices that seem to endanger lives of users, so regarding the refurbished phones the TCRA is working closely with users in making sure they are out of the market,” he said.

There have been some concerns among phone users in the country over the spread of refurbished phones being sold in different stores.

“These phones can be found almost all over the country and they are sold for reasonable prices compared to the original phones, hence attracting huge market,” he said.

Despite its affordability they have a lot of risks to users and some people have been affected due to explosion that occurs while charging.

Such phones cannot maintain charges for a long time, they may be charged for two hours and shows the charge is full but within few minutes the phone indicates low battery mode.

Despite its inability to maintain charge still their batteries are not safe as they become hot and can burst while charging.

A Tanzanian celebrity commonly known as Tessy Chocolate once used her social media platform to complain about such fabricated phones, saying she had experience of blast when charging fabricated phone.

It burnt some of her property and affected her much and was forced to incur other cost to buy other stuffs.

She suggested that it was high time now for the responsible authority to keep a closer eye in making sure that the refurbished phones not availed in local market, posing threat to personal safety.

She also pushed for legal actions against the importers of refurbished phones to reduce the importation of the handsets.