A Philippines lawmaker has proposed a thousand-fold increase in penalties on telecoms operators that don’t meet the regulator’s orders to improve service, the Inquirer reported.

Representative Susan Yap filed a bill in the House proposing to raise the fine on the country’s operators from just PHP200 ($4.20) per day to PHP300,000 (about $6,300) per day when they don’t meet orders issued by the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) to curb violations, which cover everything from overcharging to dropped calls and slow broadband speeds.

Under the bill, the penalty would be capped at a maximum of PHP5 million instead of the current PHP25,000.

The higher penalties would force operators to comply with NTC orders, Yap said. The Inquirer quoted her as saying: “These penalties are obsolete and insignificant given the high level of income earned by public communication entities.”

Globe reported record earnings of PHP5.4 billion ($115.6 million) in Q3, up 46 per cent from a year ago, while market leader PLDT, which offers mobile service under the Smart and Sun Cellular brands, posted a net income of PHP6.6 billion during the quarter.