The Hindu : National : Bharti Cellular refunds money to customers

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Nov 15, 2004

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National

Bharti Cellular refunds money to customers

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, NOV.14. Bharti Telecom has begun implementing the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India's (TRAI) directive to refund the one-time levy of Rs. 50 to Rs. 200 charged from subscribers wishing to migrate to a new tariff plan unveiled in August.

In a message to its subscribers, the company announced the refund of the charges as a "goodwill gesture." However, the fact is that TRAI held that the charge was levied in a "non-transparent manner." The investigation was launched after TRAI received a "spate of complaints'' from Bharti's mobile customers from various parts of the country.

A "distressed'' TRAI then ordered Bharti Cellular and Idea to immediately refund the extra money charged from their subscribers and hoped that it would not have to issue such directives in future because it expected phone companies to practice the concept of being "self-check regulatory'' companies. TRAI also asked these companies to protect consumer interests.

The TRAI directive on October 25 asked Bharti Cellular to refund the migration charge levied on customers and give "wide publicity'' to the directive in media, newspapers and its website so to enable all the customers to avail the refund. Another directive asked Idea Cellular to follow suit in the Gujarat circle. At the same time, Bharti was asked to stop levying one-time charges on its existing pre-paid and post-paid subscribers. Bharti was asked to report compliance within 15 days from the issue of the directive.

Idea Cellular was asked to refund the Rs. 249 charged from each subscriber of post-paid plan "Buzz-99'' to "Buzz-199'' in Gujarat circle

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