Beware of data charges, additional telecom services, warn activists

Chennai: Telecom industry has become an unfair sector to customers with plenty of hidden charges. Do not download free apps or programmes, until it is necessary and there is a spurt in the number of complaints from those availing internet connections for their desktops and smart phones, admit sources in the telecom industry.

“I was shocked to see my December broadband bill as it reflected an additional one time charge of Rs 489. Upon enquiry with BSNL, I was told that the charge was levied as I had opted for a Hungama service, but I don’t remember demanding such a request through my broad band facility”, said R. Bharath, a resident of Pattalam. I have to call the BSNL authorities and then submit a letter to deactivate the facility. Though BSNL resolved the issue, these are unnecessary hardships for a customer, he added.

“Every month I receive at least half a dozen complaints from mobile users pouring out their grievance and most of them opine that they were cheated by private telecom operators”, opine RTI activist and former Telecom Regulatory Commission member V. Sathiabalan. We do not know the exact numbers of such complaints as most of them are against the private operators.

Particularly the smart phone users often lament over the mobile data connection bills and opine that they were victims of non transparent billing procedures.

The irony is that majority of the customers do not know how to turn off the mobile data service and some of them are not aware of the phone options when it comes to downloading. Particularly after the invention of whatsapp, the data consumption has increased to many folds benefiting the telecom companies, he said. In my opinion BSNL is comparatively better as they have a better grievance addressing system, unlike the private operators, where the customer call is also charged.  

When contacted general manager of BSNL K. Geethanjali said whenever BSNL receives such a complaint the issue is resolved after accepting a deactivation letter. In some of the cases, the children who surf the net respond to the Hungama pop up, thus activating the additional services. There have been a few similar cases and then addressed, the top official said.