"Timor Telecom warning message/ Price of recharge is printed in the card. Please do not pay more." This beeped into our cells at lunchtime today. For those still scratching their heads over why the message, it's because the pulsa sellers have been charging 25 to 75 cents more for every $5 recharge card they sell. Last night when we drove by Acait, the cards were going for $5.25, then at Audian it was $5.50. Today a colleague went around town and concluded that $5.25 was the lowest $5 card being sold, $5.75 being the highest! Thankfully, the price for the $10 are still the same. More than a year ago, I asked a pulsa vendor his profit on every phone card, i think it's 10 cents for every $15 card they sold so i can't imagine how much they can earn on a $5 card! No wonder these guys are upping the price, and obviously this has reached TT's ears. It's the same isn't it in Indonesia? The streetside pulsa vendors also charge extra. Actually, the same has already happened in Baucau and Lautem ( and perhaps other districts) when phonecards are more difficult to come by. Now, this price hike on the $5 card seems to have become a consensus across Dili, so how can we "not pay more?" Only 1 choice, buy a $10 card. But if you only have so few dollars in your pocket, you just have no choice but to concede another $0.25 to the vendor or spend $0.20 travelling to TT's office to get the originally-priced cards.