Jamshedpur, April 25: The recent changes in the billing cycle of the telecom giant BSNL have not gone down too well with the customers.

With increasing competition in the telecom sector, BSNL officials have changed the billing cycle to monthly from bi-monthly.

Accordingly, since January, monthly bills are being given to subscribers in Jamshedpur.

But officials said the change has been implemented for all BSNL customers nation-wide and needs to implemented in all the zones.

The payment system is also faulty. The subscribers have a shortage of places to pay their bills.

The telecom giant’s contract with the UCO Bank has also expired. Earlier, the customers used to drop their cheques at the bank, but now they can not do so though the facility has been mentioned on their bills.

Though there are 12 counters at the Bistupur BSNL customer centre, only four are functional for paying the landline bills.

“They should at least mention that the facility no longer exists. I had to go to the bank, only to be directed to the BSNL counter,” said B.K.D. Agarwal, a resident at Sonari.

“There should be a relay system so that at least 50 per cent of counters are open at lunch time. This is the only time, when we can take an off from office to pay the bills,” said Shailesh Singh, a customer from Kadma.

The bills can be paid in post offices but there is a problem. The post offices do not accept cheques below Rs 500. And after the new monthly billing cycle, the amount may be below Rs 500 for some.

“Moreover, they won’t accept the payment after the due date. This change in billing cycle is a pain. We can’t pay our bills at the post office, if the amount is below Rs 500. Should I just increase my monthly bill to suit the syst- em?” said Loraine Whyte, a customer at Circuit House Area.

Few others have opted to surrender their landline connections. “There were too many problems with billing and other issues that we decided to do away with it,” said R.K. Ranjan, an Agrico resident.

However, the BSNL management insists that their customer complaints have been reduced to zero after the introduction of the monthly bill cycle. “With the new system, our collection efficiency has been increased from 92 to 96 per cent,” said R.K. Mishra, general manager, BSNL, Jamshedpur.

“The contract with UCO Bank had expired. However, both the parties are interested in continuing and we will resume the services in one week’s time,” said Mishra.

Twelve new drop boxes for cheques have been installed in various places in the city. But not many at the BSNL counter know of such an arrangement, he added.