S-Fone, a mobile phone service provider which is facing serious financial difficulties, has been accused by its employees of not paying salaries and social insurance.
With mounting debts and a dwindling number of subscribers, the company's decision to change from a corporation to a limited liability company has been met with skepticism by those who see it as another sign of capital shortfall.

At the same time their two largest investors, Saigon Post and Telecommunications Services Corporation (SPT) and SaigonTel Company, are having their own financial problems.

Pham Tien Thinh, the CEO of S-Fone, said that the company is seeking investors even as hope finding additional funding remains scant. In addition, the troubled company is being accused of embezzling salaries.

Former S-Fone workers said the company dismissed them on March 1, 2012 during cutbacks. However the time to pay their severance allowance have been delayed three times and the official contract termination letters, which they received on June 11, 2012 did not mention if the contracts would be renewed or not.

An anonymous source told that the decision to terminate the contract is not base on the consensus between S-Fone and its labourers but the consensus between SPT and the company union.

S-Fone has been unable to reach an agreement with its staff on the matter because the accusation has other employees of the company worried about their pay and benefits.

On July 13, 30 the workers dismissed on March 1 gathered in front of the company's offices in Danang to protest.

The day before, Hoan Kiem District People's Court in Hanoi held a trial involving an S-Fone Call Centre employee who sued the company for unpaid severance amounting to VND80 million (USD3,827). However the trial was postponed due to the absence of an S-Fone representative.

A reporter from Dau Tu tried to contact S-Fone's CEO for comment, but the number was unreachable.

Dautu/Dtnews