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| BSNL 'goof up' comes as shocker for subscribers | | Bill blues- authorities say will take care in 'future' | | KUNAL SHRIVATSA
EARLY TIMES REPORT
JAMMU, Oct 19: BSNL blues by way of erroneous operational networking are no new for mobile phone customers in J&K. Sometimes these come as shocking only to offend and bother subscribers as uncalled for worries.
Going by its overall track record, the BSNL has again goofed-up and this time around the error has unnecessarily created a sense of suspicion among the customers.
Last month's mobile phone bills issued by BSNL came like a shocker to subscribers as several of them were charged for Short Message Service (SMS) which is under a blanket ban (outgoing as well as incoming except service related SMSes) for the last over three months in the state.
Annoyed and confused over the unnecessary charges, some of the subscribers approached Early Times after they failed to get any responses from the BSNL authorities for what apparently appeared to them as 'overcharging'. They provided original copies of their bills wherein it was clearly mentioned that some of the amount charged in the invoices was put in the category of Outgoing SMS-Local.
Caught unawares with the 'hidden obligations' of the largest telecom service provider of the nation, the subscribers rued the fact that time and again BSNL has taken its customers for a ride.
"For millions of mobile subscribers across state, the Short Message Service (SMS) is blocked but looking at the bills it seems that for BSNL it is still working as like me many others have been charged for SMSes," said Kuldeep Singh of Upper Bazar.
When contacted Chief General Manager (CGM) Mobile RK Koul passed on the buck by saying that in actual the amount stated in the bills is not for SMSes but it must be for some value added service.
"The charges might be for some value added service but I am not in a position to tell what exactly it is. As far as ban is concerned only person to person SMSes have been blocked and the service SMSes are still in use …….. it would be better if you speak to DGM P Sudhakar Rao for further clarification in the matter," Koul said.
Operating from BSNL office Bahu Plaza DGM (CM-NWP-II) P Sudhakar Rao admitted that there is a minor lapse or confusion in the overall details of the bills but denied that subscribers were being charged for SMSes despite a ban on their circulation.
"The charges indicated are for Personalised Ring Back Tones (PRBTs) and not for SMSes….. Actually the misunderstanding arises because of not indicating the exact service for which the subscribers have been charged."
"We appreciate the concern of the subscribers and would convey it to higher authorities so that a bill with minute details is issued to them in future," he added
Today, when the private cellular service providers including Airtel, Aircel, Reliance, Idea, Vodafone etc are making an indelible mark on the minds of the customers of J&K state, the BSNL a with such 'unprofessional' approach is proving a misnomer among its subscribers.
It is pertinent to mention here that after blocking SMS services across Kashmir valley to check rumour mongers and troublemakers from flaring up emotions in the already surcharged atmosphere, the central government blocked the services across Jammu on June 29 last. This move had affected nearly 38 lakh people in the state.
It is not just that the private players are entirely efficient in providing their services but they are also gaining at the cost of BSNL's poor performance over the years. The private companies are strongly penetrating and are a success due to the faults and weaknesses of BSNL, the oldest cellular service provider in the state. Though the state owned-Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) can boast of that it was the first telecom company which introduced cellular services in the state way back in 2003 but even after operating for the last seven years here it is unable to provide a 'satisfactory' and 'smooth' telephony to its lakhs of subscribers here.
It is in the backdrop of these facts that all through these years, the reputation of India's largest telecommunication service provider has gone from bad to worse largely due to its own organizational hiccups, mismanagement and follies.
Day in day out, the customers with anger, anguish and disappointment writ large on their faces have numerous complaints against BSNL authorities including wrong billing, poor connectivity, call drops, weak signal … so on and so forth but to their utter dismay there is no one to pay heed to their grievances. |
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