Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Airtel India threatens its Customers to Re-submit ID proof doc to avoid disconnection?

Airtel asks its users to submit photo ID proof documents as per TRAI guidelines? Whats the real picture??



                   Airtel is one of India's largest reputable telecom provider, but of late, nearly all of its customers are being bombed with SMS alerts and voice calls that they have 72 hours or so to submit their ID proof documents to the nearest Airtel outlet to avoid Disconnection. They claim that it is as per TRAI [Telecom Regulatory Authority of India] guidelines. Or is it??

A few calls to the Airtel Customer service on this regard, threw up the following answers.

1. Sir, your name and the name on the document we have DOES NOT match.
2. We DO NOT have the documents as per TRAI guidelines/standards.
3. Your registered name and number is NOT on our records.
4. Sir, I am sorry Sir, you are not in our records Sir, I am so sorry.

The above lines were real answers as quoted by "trained" customer representatives of Airtel. Does the 4th point  even make any sense?? Lol...
Weren't all new customers required to submit ID proofs and address proofs at the time of their SIM purchase? Only then would they get their SIM activated. Lets have a look at the big picture. There are two possibilities for this mishap.

1. Airtel has accidentally lost a majority of its customer records database and is using TRAI excuse to rebuild their records
2. Or is it that airtel has been doing business against TRAI recommendation and practices for the past 5 years or so! and is now making up to it??

Whatever be the case, some of its customer had submitted the documents twice already, still they claim to be incomplete. Further shocking is that, it is known to have accused customers who have been using the same number for more than 5 to 8 years that they have their documents incomplete or are completely NOT on thier records? Is that even possible? Was the user a 'Ghost' until then..? Some one at TRAI needs to investigate.

You might want to check out the consumer complaint forums regarding the case, which seems to have heated arguments. Here's the link

10 comments:

  1. fuck**g airtel .. airtel suckss

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  2. It's the same with Vodafone as well ..

    Submitted documents twice already.. and now they are asking for them again.

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  3. Hi,
    I spoke to the Airtel branch manager, it seems they are updating their database for better interoperability and ease of tracking us...So all have to do it again :(

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  4. Yea...Airtel warned me that i should submit the docs before 20th.Since i didnt submit it,they extended to 26sep and now 30th..lol...wats the point?..btw,nice article,keep it up!

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  5. screws up.... datz vat airtel is... what the heck did they do with the docs submitted while purchasing the SIM card?? after using the number for 1.5 years they are asking me to resubmit the docs.... i would happily renounce this number than submitting the docs...

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  6. @Above

    yes, thats the exact same thought that most have quoted, but it seems, the documents submitted at the time of purchase were not upto standards as quoted by TRAI... but then again, who knows whats the real deal ;)

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  7. Airtel is sick, sad and disgusting. They just know how to harass subscribers. Govt. should ban such service providers and port all airtel connections to better service providers.

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  8. Airtel, IDEA, Vodafone, What not each and every operator maintains a customer Care Less dept. No one answers customers calls.

    The MDs and Directors should be slapped with chappals for not caring the customers and paying deaf ears on customer's real problems.

    Slap Mittals, Birlas if you have an opportunity Even throw a Tomota atleast.

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  9. All civilized countries have a single proof of identity/ address. India requires different sets of proof for different services. A simple PAN number is not enough for the IT department too. Every time you shift residence (as many of us have to) you have to go through the gruelling process of address change. As if we have changed our country of residence. And the best part is, nothing is ever achieved with this nonsense. The government thinks just because they have no work to do, so do the ordinary citizens have nothing better to do than to cater to the whims of overpaid nitwits.

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  10. Please read on face book what i written and make team to fight against this harassment.
    My Face book Id is chirag Shah or mail id chiraggold@gmail.com.

    ReplyDelete