File picture of a Reliance customer service centre

Oct. 31: Reliance Telecom today denied allegations of duping its customers in the name of the Reliance-to-Reliance free call scheme.

A Reliance Telecom spokesman in Guwahati said the free call till 2015 scheme was the result of what the company calls “customers’ misgivings and misunderstandings”. He added that the company did not introduce any such scheme to fleece customers.

Reliance’s statement has come following the incidents of protests last week by residents and several organisations in the city against the withdrawal of the free call scheme.

The All Assam Students’ Union also joined the protest and demanded justice for customers.

The Reliance distributor’s office in Christian Basti was ransacked on Saturday. The protesters demanded that the free call scheme should be revised.

The official said Reliance had launched two of the most popular recharge vouchers — Rs 550 and Rs 880 — in the middle of this year with a validity of 30 days only.

He added that the terms and conditions of the scheme were clearly mentioned on every voucher and hence a customer could enjoy the free Reliance-to-Reliance calls for 30 days only.

“But subscribers of the Rs 550 and Rs 880 vouchers were enjoying the facility even after the 30-day validity period. This happened only because a particular software used by all telecom companies to improve their network resources from time to time, was upgraded in the system during that phase. This led to a problem in locking the free calls after the validity period was over,” the official said.

He added that once the software was upgraded Reliance had to restrict the free calls, which were valid only for the stipulated 30-day period.

However, customers are not convinced and said they would continue their protest till justice is delivered.

“If the free call scheme till 2015 was the outcome of misgivings, why did Reliance not clarify its stance through the media? I have received text messages about the free call scheme advertisement and only opted for it after some Reliance officials belonging to the customer service cell approached me,” Niharika Saikia, an aggrieved customer, said.

Saikia added that the company should not be spared and dragged to the court for duping customers.