[Resolved]  Reliance Broadband — harassment in final settlement of bill

Unnecessary Harassment by RELIANCE BROADBAND regarding issue of Non-objection and clearance certificate (NOC) and settlement of inflated bill account in spite of making payment of all necessary dues.

Brief History: I had subscribed for the 75Kbps Unlimited Plan of RELIANCE BROADBAND in the month of May 2006.It was a post paid plan, for which I used to receive bills of Rs.450 (inclusive of tax) on monthly basis. I was not satisfied with the quality of service and speed as promised, so I applied for disconnection in the month of June’07-July’07. This was my first request for disconnection and the beginning of 7 months long harassment and its still on.
Detail of events: My first request for disconnection was made in the month of June’07-July’07 but without any further correspondence from their side. After sometime I got a call from their Retention Department regarding the reason for disconnection. I gave them a valid reason and asked them to provide me with a final bill and NOC and take back my MODEM. He assured me that action will be taken asap but again in vain. I received a bill for that month but I did not pay as I wanted a final bill with NOC. So again I requested for disconnection in the month of July’07-August’07 but I have misplaced all my TTNo.(Complaint No.) but it hardly makes any difference since all my complaints and requests can be verified from the records of Reliance Broad band’s Customer Database. In August, I got a call from their Billing Department that my balance of Rs.450/- is outstanding. I told them the reason for such delay (since I wanted to make a final payment) but he asked me to call up the Customer Care and sort this out with them. Yet again I did the same thing and got a call back who assured me that within 3 days my connection will be terminated and it did happen and my connection was finally barred on 14th August, 2007 but no one came to claim the MODEM and Wiring. I again requested for final bill. In August end I received a bill of Rs.1650/- for the period June-August whereas my original Amount due was Rs.725/- only (Rs.450/- for June’07-July’07 and Rs.275/- for July-August, 19days). On scrutinizing the bill properly, I found out that in the middle of the month there is a change of plan whereas since May’06, I am using 75Kbps Unlimited Plan and had no intention to change to a limited plan. Again I received a cumulative bill showing that my total outstanding amount now on my account was Rs.2004.15/- for the month of August-September(my connection got barred in the middle of august but I am still receiving bill for the next month). Then I got some 20 calls from their various departments asking me to pay the amount for which I was not liable. Change of plan was due to technical fault of Reliance Broadband as neither any confirmation nor any request was either received or given by me even according to the records of Reliance Broadband.
Note: I have record of detailed bills for the month of June-August to support my argument. Bills are showing everything clearly.

Steps taken from my side: I took all necessary steps for settling the account by personally meeting a member from the Billing Department at Reliance Broad band’s Delhi Branch Office (Barakhamba road, C.P.) and telling him everything in details. He convinced me and asked me to make the payment for which I was actually liable. As a result I made a final payment of Rs.725/- as agreed upon with Receipt No.-S[protected] in cash on account o[censored]ser ID:[protected] dated-29/10/2007 and on 31st October, 2007 a person came from reliance to claim the MODEM and gave me the Service Termination Certificate. Details of Final Payment of Rs.725/- are as follows:
1. For the month June’07-July’07- The amount outstanding=Rs.450/-
2. For the month July’07-August’07, The amount outstanding for 19days since I last used internet on 14th August and on that date my connection was barred(proof-detailed bill) =19Days/31Days*400+12.5%tax=Rs.275/-
I thought that it’s the end of this episode.He also told me that I will be receiving a NOC within 3 months of making my final payment and also asked me to mail the details of my case just as a proof. I did everything but without any conclusion since I did not receive any NOC and that person, Mr. Sunil Sah(sunil.[protected]@relianceada.com) did not respond to any of my mails. I tried to get in contact with him but in vain. Now the best is yet to come-according to the Billing Department of Reliance Broadband, Mumbai head office, no one but only they have the authority to settle the account. So according to them I should have contacted the Customer Care Department or visited to any Reliance Web World Outlets. This is despite the fact that it was one of the Departments from Reliance only who asked me to meet someone from Billing Department at Delhi Branch Office.
It caused me a lot of inconvenience and turbulence to my mental state to solve this mystery. I felt wasting my time and calls on meeting different departments and I even thought of paying the bill and get out of this mess. And as a matter of fact, I came to know that I am not the only victim. There are more than 10 people in my locality who are facing such an inconvenience of inflated bills as well as receiving bills even after disconnection, but they all are helpless like me. The problem starts only when one applies for disconnection before that everything goes fine.

Conclusion: In spite of settling all the actual dues for which I was liable and even after convincing all the officials from various departments who called me up with my facts, after 4months I am still receiving calls but now from their lawyers who are claiming that their client (read Reliance Broadband) have sued me for non payment of dues (Rs.2004-Rs.725=Rs.1280/- the amount which I am not liable to pay).
Words like legal cases and court of law is really frightening especially for those who belong to ordinary middle class family. Same holds true for my father as well, who wants me to make the payment and avoid such complexities and unnecessary harassments. Even he thinks that this is not correct but then at the end of the day its better to pay than get into such trouble.
But I feel that now there are forums where such grievances can be addressed and that is why I am here. Its not about the quantum of money involved but about honesty. Why should anyone pay the amount for which he is not liable and above that how can you sue him for that? One has to raise his voice against arm twisting especially when big and reputed companies like Reliance are involved in such incidents at grass root level. I hope I will get a solution or path to find one soon with your help.

S.Das
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