MANILA, Philippines—Finally acting on complaints of so-called “vanishing loads,” the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) said two new measures to protect mobile phone subscribers would take effect this month.

An NTC circular tripling the shelf life of phone cards is set to take effect on July 19. The order banning commercial promotions and other “text spam,” signed on Tuesday, will take effect on July 23.

The NTC said it had turned down requests from mobile phone firms and allied value-added service (VAS) providers to postpone or reconsider its recent orders.

The NTC’s ongoing clampdown was prompted by a Senate investigation into what Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile said was a case of “missing load credits.” Lawmakers criticized industry officials for “robbing” the public through unsolicited text promos and the limited shelf life of prepaid phone cards.

NTC chair Ruel Canobas, who met with representatives of Smart Communications, Globe Telecom and Digitel Mobile Philippines at the Senate, said no extensions could be given on the new circulars.

Lawyer Roy Ibay, senior manager at Smart, told reporters it would be difficult to implement the the first circular at such short notice.

“We need to do a lot of things on our end, it’s the technical side. That’s where we would probably ask for a little allowance,” Ibay said. It would be difficult to recall prepaid cards all over the country, he added.

Lawyer Rodolfo Salalima, Globe chief legal counsel, said the firm may file a formal motion for reconsideration.

A group of value-added service (VAS) and content providers had also submitted a position paper asking the NTC to reconsider the ban on promotional text messages without the written consent of the subscriber.

A position paper sent to Canobas said the order threatened the survival of their industry, which hinged on their ability to send free information about their products to users and potential subscribers.

But for all the tough words used in the NTC circular, violators will be fined only P200 for every day of violation.

In a media briefing in Malacañang on Tuesday, Canobas said the miniscule amount was the maximum penalty under existing laws. He said a bill still pending at the House of Representatives would jack up the fine to P10,000 to P10 million. With a report by Christian V. Esguerra