Airtel — harassment to the consumer

Dear Sir/Madam,

I was a subscriber of MTS-MBLAZE from February 2015. But due to deterioration in their service I have switched over to Airtel 4G Hotspot, because I am having a close relation with Airtel for the last -7- years via -3- DTH and many mobile connections.

On 14.06.2017 one of your representatives Mr. Arup Chatterjee visited my place and handed over the Airtel Dongle to me and took my MTS-MBLAZE Dongle. Probably on 11th or 12th of June 2017, one lady from your office had a telephonic talk with me about this Airtel connection and she informed me that if I take this connection, then the Airtel Dongle will be delivered in exchange of the MTS-MBLAZE dongle and in lieu of that MTS dongle I shall have to pay a concessional rate of Rs.1200/-. So I had no hesitation in handing over that MTS-MBLAZE dongle to Mr. Arup Chatterjee. After that I asked him about the deactivation of the MTS-MBLAZE dongle. He assured me that he will do the needful. In the end of June, a lady from MTS-MBLAZE told me over phone that if I pay my last bill of Rs.1218/-, then my connection will be automatically deactivated, because they have received the request of deactivation. In spite of their assurances I have thrice (on 03.07.2017, 18.07.2017 and 07.08.2017) e-mailed MTS-MBLAZE to deactivate my connection and paid Rs.1218/ on 03.07.2017. But on 07.08.2017 @ 13:22 one lady from MTS-MBLAZE threatened me over phone that I have to pay the last bill, otherwise they will take legal action – because I have used the MTS-MBLAZE connection during 14.06.2017 and 07.08.2017. I was stunned with this allegation, because I have handed over that MTS-MBLAZE dongle to Mr. Arup Chatterjee on 14.06.2017. When I narrated the fact to her, most impolitely she blamed me that I should not have given that dongle to anyone, not even to Airtel-persons. Immediately I told the facts to Mr. Arup Chatterjee and he told me to ignore those calls. Moreover he advised me to lodge a FIR against MTS-MBLAZE. On 08.08.2017 @ 11:16 Ms. Dola rang me from MTS-MBLAZE and told me that my MTS-MBLAZE connection is still active and I shall have to pay the pending bill. This time also I have informed the fact to Mr. Arup Chatterjee and his reply was the same as before. On 14.08.2017 one lady contacted me over phone and enquired whether my dongle is properly working or not. I told her that though the dongle is working properly, but I am facing other problems i.e., I did not get my current bill and therefore the bill cycle, its amount and the due date are not known to me. Then she told me (after confirming from someone) that my bill cycles will be 12th of every month and the due dates will be 15th. But she said nothing about the amount. Then I tried to get that number for several times, but they were intentionally making it ‘busy’. I had no other alternative but to contact Mr. Arup Chatterjee. But his reaction was the same as before. Moreover he told me that he is getting ‘fed up’ with my problem. He told me to contact [protected]@in.airtel.com in order to register my number for regular billing.

Now my humble question is : Have I done any wrong in taking the Airtel connection ? If not, then is it the duty of the subscriber to arrange for the deactivation of the previous connection ? When Airtel is giving its dongle in exchange of the MTS-MBLAZE dongle, then there must be some arrangements between the two companies. And if the deactivation of the previous connection is not done in spite of repeated information, then why the consumer will be penalized and insulted ? I, being a Senior Citizen, have never faced such insult earlier.

Let me hope that you will look into the matter and relieve me of such tension.

With regards,

ARUNENDRA MOOKHERJEE
Airtel 4G Hotspot no. [protected]