Bharti Airtel Ltd — Fraudulent contracts based on misrepresentation

Address:

Mumbai City, Maharashtra

Subject: Information regarding fraudulent and illegal contracts being established with customers in Mumbai by
Airtel India Ltd.

From: sameer shahani ([protected]@yahoo.com)
To:
Gopal.[protected]@in.airtel.com; ceo.[protected]@airtel.in; Srinivasan.[protected]@in.airtel.com;
raghunath.[protected]@in.airtel.com; [protected]@trai.gov.in; [protected]@trai.gov.in; [protected]@trai.gov.in;
[protected]@trai.gov.in; [protected]@trai.gov.in; [protected]@trai.gov.in; [protected]@trai.gov.in;
[protected]@trai.gov.in; [protected]@trai.gov.in; [protected]@trai.gov.in; [protected]@trai.gov.in;
[protected]@trai.gov.in;

Date: Friday, 30 May 2014 12:54 AM

Dear Sir/s,
I am of the opinion that it is the appropriate time to write to you in relation to the sordid
quality and severally fractured integrity of Airtel services being provided to Airtel
customers in Mumbai.

I am and have been a consumer of Airtel mobile services in Mumbai, owning and operating
Airtel mobile phone number [protected] since many year within the prepaid segment and I
must state that I have been spared the horrors of having to interact with the customer care
channels, whether online or otherwise.

However, my horrendous ordeal began on the fateful day of 21st May 2014, when I
received a call from one of the Airtel DSAs operating in Mumbai, namely, Rapid
Televentures situate at Andheri. The following is a seriatim summary which leads to this email;

1. The tele-caller employed with the aforesaid DSA contacted me in terms of porting my
existing Vodafone postpaid number to Airtel postpaid.

2. Upon inquiring about the plans he was offering, the following shall be relevant to record;

2.1. I was offered a Rs. 299 (with tax) rental plan which contained the
following benefits, viz;
2.1.(i) 1GB 3G data service or in lieu thereof 2G unlimited service.
2.1.(ii) 800 free calling minutes, which subsequently changed to 300 -
400 free calling minutes.
2.1.(iii) 300 free SMSes.
2.1.(iv) Airtel - Airtel free calling 24 hours a day, everyday
2.1.(v) 30p per minute Local and STD calling upon exhausting 800 free
calling minutes.
2.1.(vi) Free roaming in Maharashtra, Goa, etc without any rental
12/6/2014 Print
about:blank 2/3
2.1.(vii) Incoming calls while on roaming chargeable at 30p per
minute
it is important to record that all the benefits stated in 2.1.(i - vii) have unconditional lifetime
validity, unless specifically asked to be deactivated by me.

2.2. Alternatively, I was offered a Rs. 399 (with tax) rental plan which
contained the following benefits;

2.2.(i) 1.5 GB 3G data service.
2.2.(ii) 600 free calling minutes.
2.2.(iii) 300 free SMSes.
2.2.(iv) Airtel - Airtel free calling.
2.2.(v) Free roaming similar to 2.1.(vii) above.
it is pertinent to record that all the benefits stated in 2.2.(i - v) have unconditional lifetime
validity, unless specifically asked to be deactivated by me.
Finally, when the office boy came over to my place to fill up the customer acquisition form
and collect my documents along with Rs. 200 in cash, as security deposit I was offered the
following the following benefits with the Rs. 399 rental plan;
2.3.(i) 1.5 GB 3G data service for life.
2.3.(ii) 900 free local calling minutes.
2.3.(iii) 300 free STD calling minutes.
2.3.(iv) 100 local + 100 STD free SMSes.
2.3.(v) Airtel - Airtel free calling.
2.3.(vi) Free roaming.
all the benefits stated in 2.3.(i - vi) to be in continuation with 2.1.(v) and 2.1.(vii) above.

Upon accepting the said offer as detailed in 2.3.(i - vi), the customer acquisition form was
executed (xerox copy available) and my identification documents along with Rs. 200 in
cash was handed over to the office boy Vinayak Birje at my residence in Mumbai.
When the new sim card provided to me continued to remain inactive till 29th May 2014, I
approached the Airtel Relationship Centre situate at Hill Road, Bandra West, to enquire
about the needless and unnecessary delay, I was directed to one Mr. Akhilesh Dubey was
claimed to be the store manager. Upon discussing the aforesaid plan 2.3.(i - vi) with him, it
came to light that all the commitments made to me were false and Airtel does not in
anyway, whether at the store level or otherwise offer the plan set out in 2.3.(i - vi).
It is also important to record that similar plans have been offered to numerous customers
in Mumbai, clearly with ulterior and mala fide motives to facilitate illegal and unjust
enrichment of all concerned.

Thus from the above, the fractured integrity of business practices being adopted becomes
abundantly clear. It is also important for me to record that all calls received from the said DSA and all calls
made to the employees of the said DSA are recorded by me and shall be produced before
law enforcement machinery and / or the telecom regulator in the interest of innocent and
unsuspecting customers to protect myself and them from entering into illegal contracts
based on blatant fraud and shameless misrepresentation.

Also, despite several assurances, the above mentioned mobile phone number continues to remain inactive and the last status was that the number did not exist any longer.

This especially after several persons from the Regulatory Team have been assuring me since the last 10 days that the matter would be resolved to my satisfaction, note than I do possess call recordings of all communication with employees / agents / servants / officers of Airtel Ltd.

Also, despite several false assurances no action has been taken against the defaulting DSA.

Thanks & Regards,
Sameer Shahani.
Mumbai.