The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : BSNL's revised billing schedule leaves customers fuming

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Jun 09, 2005

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

BSNL's revised billing schedule leaves customers fuming

N. Ravi Kumar

New system requires bills to be paid by the month-end New system requires bills to be paid by the month-end The problem is acute for the salaried class and senior citizens as they have little money to spare towards the end of the month

CHENNAI: Customers using Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited landline connections are complaining of difficulties with the revised billing schedule of Chennai Telephones since it requires them to make the payment by the month-end.

The problem is acute for the salaried class and senior citizens as they have little money to spare towards the end of the month, says T. Sadagopan, chief coordinator of Thandurai Pattabiram Consumer Council.

"After the change, we come close to having our telephone connection disconnected because there is hardly any money left for paying the bill," says G. Laxman, a Southern Railway employee staying in Triplicane.

Many subscribers are forced to borrow money to clear the bill, he says, pointing out that the salaries of those in Government service are only credited to the employees' bank accounts on the first of every month. Under the earlier system, especially in case of bills generated on 18th of the month, the subscribers had time till 10th of the next month to pay.

According to details available on Chennai Telephones' website, previously the bi-monthly bills to individual customers were despatched on 10th and 18th of every month. From February, it decided to despatch bills on 7th of every month and customers who get bills on a monthly basis, on 9th.

The change, says N. Sundaramoorthy, 76, who retired from the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board, is not convenient for pensioners, as they get their pension only on first of the month. Though BSNL provides 21-days time between the date of the bill and the pay-by date, some subscribers complain of postal delay reducing the time made available to them.

Speaking to The Hindu , K.B. Brahmadathan, Chief General Manager of Chennai Telephones, said the change was introduced to achieve better collection efficiency and cash flows.

The service provider, he pointed out, was the only one collecting payments for calls made in the previous two months.

He said Chennai Telephones was migrating subscribers whose bill amount was more than Rs. 1,000 a month to a monthly bill system.

Reliance tie-up with SBI

Private telecom service provider Reliance Infocomm on Tuesday announced that it has tied-up with the State Bank of India for online Reliance IndiaMobile bill payment. As per the agreement, RIM subscribers with SBI accounts will be able to pay the bill directly from their accounts.

The encrypted service is highly secure, easy-to-use and available free of cost, according to a press release. Reliance Infocomm had similar tie-ups for direct debit with ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank.

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