[Resolved]  Airtel — Over Billing

This is regarding my husband’s Airtel Connection[protected] based out of Mumbai. I have been writing to Bharti Airtel since Nov. 2008 on the issue of faulty / over-billing but till date have received no satisfactory response from them. Instead the cell phone services have been suspended twice with no prior intimation and the matter is still under dispute. Here is a history of the events that prompted us to write in to the Consumer Complaints Forum.

My husband traveled to Dubai & Sharjah end of Oct.2008 on a 5-day trip. On his return, he realized that his outgoing calls and messaging had been barred. Thereafter, he received a SMS from Airtel stating that he had an outstanding of Rs.18, 000 on his connection, which had to be settled immediately, else they would not restore his connection. We spoke to their customer care executives but received very little assistance. The services to our line remained suspended for almost 2 weeks.

We then wrote to Airtel on Nov.12th saying that we needed a detailed itemized bill before paying the dues since it was not a small amount by any stretch of imagination. On Nov.17th w spoke to Ms.Abhilasha Hans, Head – Customer Services stationed at their Corporate Office in Gurgaon. We receive a statement only on Nov.30th indicating the dues, but no details of the phone numbers called and received and the usage time were disclosed. Their excuse was that the Billing System did not permit a detailed invoice before the due date of our billing cycle.

On reviewing this statement we discovered some discrepancies and were not clear about some of the charges levied on to us. The International roaming charges that they had billed us viz a viz what was mentioned on their internet site were different. They were over-charging us by a substantial amount. We then wrote back to Airtel on Dec.8th for clarification on the same. We asked them for documentary proof from Iteselat (their co-service provider in the UAE) to substantiate their claim. Since we did not hear from them we sent a reminder on Dec.14th along with a protest payment of Rs.8, 000. We received a reply on Dec.15th but it did not address all our queries and provide us with necessary clarification on critical issues.

The next bill was received shortly which included dues from the earlier bill. Here again we discovered some mistakes amounting to over-billing which we conveyed over email to Airtel on Jan.1st 2009 along with a reminder to revert on the earlier bill issue. They acknowledged the ‘wrong’ charges made by them, over phone. Subsequently, we made our payment towards this bill after making adjustments for the faulty charges levied.

On Jan. 4th, we sent a detailed email to Ms.Abhilasha Hans voicing our disappointment in Airtel’s response to our grievance. We insisted that they send us the proof we had requested if the dues need to be settled. Ever since, there has been exchange of emails and phone calls between the Nodal Office and us, but nothing concrete has come of it and we still have not sought the desired clarification on this matter from Airtel. We have not heard from any senior Airtel official despite addressing and marking a copy of each mail to Ms.Hans. And as of Jan.27th they have barred all the outgoing services to our number, which compelled us to seek the services of another service-provider.

When I browse through this on-line forum, I realize that there are a lot of aggrieved Airtel customers like us, seeking justice on various service-related matters. This can further be affirmed by an article that appeared in Hindustan Times dated Jan.30th 2009 wherein Airtel has been voted as the ‘Worst Service Provider’ in the telecom sector by the Consumer Guidance Society of India based on complaints filed by consumers in the areas of over-billing, cross-connections, unreachable helplines and network problems.