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Just how efficient are private landline service companies? They certainly aren’t the epitome of efficiency but they’re a bit better than the state-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) in some respects. Even so, subscribers have started complaining about their services too ? complaints about BSNL’s services, of course, are legion.
Landline services still form the backbone of telecommunications in India and consumers now have a greater choice, thanks to private landline operators Tata Teleservices (whose brand is Tata Indicom) and Reliance Infocomm. Their wireless landline sets could initially be carried around and doubled as cellphones.
But a recent directive has put paid to that. Now you can’t venture out of your area with the set since the signal towers are area-specific. It’s still early days for Reliance and Tata Teleservices, but some complaints about their services have started pouring in. Cast your eyes at the following and you’ll get an idea of the problems that crop up if you’re a subscriber to landline services.
Bill Payment: Instances of the BSNL bill reaching the consumer late are still not uncommon. Recently, in parts of north Calcutta, several consumers couldn’t make calls due to “non-payment of bill” even though the payment was made on time and had been registered by the local exchange. “This was strange, for we had all paid our dues. This nuisance keeps recurring,” grouses P.N. Mukherjee, a local resident.
Private operators are a step ahead for they have pre-paid cards as well. Tata Teleservices has drop boxes for payment. That apart, Tata consumers can pay bills in cash at a few select shops and through their credit card. Pre-paid cards are available in denominations of Rs 330, Rs 550, Rs 1,100 and Rs 3,300. Reliance consumers can pay their bills at banks or use credit cards and the payment system is faster and relatively hassle-free.
Slow repair of lines: This has traditionally been BSNL’s Achilles’ heel. And it refuses to go away even though the situation has improved. Registering a complaint at 198 is easy but actually getting your line repaired could be an uphill task.
If your telephone hasn’t been repaired for seven days, it is classified as an ‘old case’ by the authorities and addressed on a priority basis. Once it crosses seven days, you will get a refund of seven days’ rental. If it isn’t repaired within 14 days, you will get a rebate of one month’s rental. But that doesn’t always help, says Prabir Basu, member, State Consumer Protection Council. “The deadline for repairs needs to be shortened to 48 or 72 hours,” he says.
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If your telephone is dead despite repeated complaints, you can lodge a complaint at the Telephone Adalats that are held periodically. At Calcutta Telephones, the general manager holds the adalat once every two months and the chief general manager holds it twice a year. The venue and the date are announced in newspapers. Even though the adalats sort out the complaints on the same day, they can handle less than 100 ? a minuscule portion of the total number of complaints pending. “We only address cases which are pending for a long time,” says general manager S.K. Bhaduri.
But the private operators are not much better off either. Tata Teleservices has a customer care number that’s difficult to get through to. Reliance, too, has a customer care number but complaints take long to be registered here as well.
Inflated bill: Indranil Bose, a 45-year-old executive, had five STD calls on his bill which he claimed he had not made. Several complaints later, BSNL supplied a break-up of the calls and it confirmed that they had indeed been made. Bose had to pay up to save his connection but he remained unconvinced. The BSNL authorities, on the other hand, explained that bills appear inflated because tariffs had gone up and subscribers make more calls. “At least half the calls we make now are to cellphones. So a hike in the bill amount is inevitable,” explains a senior BSNL official. He adds that since all BSNL meters are controlled by computer software, the possibility of an error is minimum.
But not all consumers are convinced. They have the option of lodging a complaint with the Customer Service Centre or logging on to calcuttatelephones.com and asking for the billing details. These are e-mailed every fortnight, free of charge. But then, calls made to landlines can’t be tracked.
Tata Teleservice subscribers get a break-up of calls in the bill. Subscribers to Reliance’s services enjoy the same facility.
ConfusinG rental slabs: BSNL now has as many as six different schemes on offer starting with Sulabh-I under which the rental is Rs 160. At the other end of the spectrum, you have the super scheme for which the rental is as high as Rs 1,650. On the flip side, there have been instances of consumers of one group being charged for another. The Tata Teleservices rental for post-paid connections ranges between Rs 149 and Rs 349. You get a 25 per cent discount if your bill exceeds Rs 2,000. Reliance has several plans and the tariff (rental) varies between Rs 250 and Rs 2,000. You could get free calls worth up to Rs 2,000, depending on the plan you choose.
Add-on facilities: BSNL offers the caller line identification facility free of cost. Tata Teleservices charges Rs 50 a month for the caller identification facility after the first three months. Post-paid consumers who pay a rental of Rs 349 are exempt from this. However, prepaid consumers cannot log on to the Net through the landline. Reliance charges quite heavily for its features. For call forwarding, you will be charged as per the rate applicable in the chosen plan. This is currently restricted to Reliance numbers in the same SDCA area (akin to a city or taluka). A three-way conference shall mean two calls if both calls are outbound. Calls to Reliance Customer Care (*377) are toll free.
