[Resolved]  Airtel — Data charged beyond bill plan prescribed limit

Address:

Mumbai City, Maharashtra

Airtel 4g wifi plans were initially like normal wifi plans like the ones provided by other companies wherein the customer subscribes to a limited amount of data at high speed after the exhaustion of which the speed is slowed down. Airtel recently, without any sort of intimation to its customers, converted these plans into cpe locked data plans where after the exhaustion of the data, without providing with any sort of initmation that the data has been consumed in its entirety, credits some more miniscule amount of data at an exorbitant rate to the customer and ends up adding rs. 500 to the bill. And the cherry on the cake is, that in most instances they do not really give you any extra data but just end up adding rs. 500 to your bill, since there is absolutely no way to check whether any extra data has been added to your account or not. So, there is absolutely no sort of intimation by them to the customer that their data has been consumed, they provide additional data at an exorbitant rate and then later charge for it all without the customer's consent, then there is no way to check whether they have provided any extra data or not, all three of which are absolutely against trai regulations.

This kind of plan introduced by airtel is absolutely illegal, since trai regulations mention that a service provider needs to send messages to the customer at the expiry of 50%, 90% and 100% data consumption. They also mention that a provider needs to stop the data services at the expiry of prescribed limit since the customer's consent is only for that amount of data which he prescribed for and the provider cannot provide extra data and then charge for it without the customer's consent. Trai also mentions that the service providers need to provide with a method to customers to check their data usage, but there is none such provision by airtel for their so called 'extra data' charged for. Airtel via these illegal plans is cheating its customers countrywide who have subscribed to these plans without even their knowledge that they are being ripped off their money.

My previous internet connection was by connect and they always used to provide messages intimating consumers about their 50%, 90% and 100% data usage and never used to credit any service without consent. Airtel on the other hand being the most renowned service provider in the country indulges in such unscrupulous activites.

I have called up their customer care, written mails to airtel, and i have to admit that airtel customer care is the most pathetic one that i have ever come across. They have some really incompetent employees handling their customer care, who just keep sending me details of various bill plans available with them in mail after mail, despite me telling them explicitly that my mails are not to enquire about bill plans and explicitly mentioning my problem to them.

I really have my doubts if airtel would actually resolve this problem since they have found this method of cheating their customers on such a wide scale. I really want to lodge a complaint with trai and would be glad if somebody can guide me as to how to go about it.