[Resolved]  Tata Sky DTH Service — WRONGFUL ILLEGAL POLICIES AND SERVICE DEFICIENCIES

Sub: Quality of Service & Redressal of Grievances Regulation, 2007



It is regretted that Tata Sky’s discourteous silence and its anti-consumer policies, together with numerous deficiencies in its service, forces me into this situation. I am writing my letter of complaint to you, before I proceed to take up the many deficiencies and irregularities in the services promised, offered and inefficiently executed by Tata Sky, in the relevant legal fora. Unless Tata Sky can satisfactorily rectify all the complaints within 15 days of receipt of this letter, I shall be forced to file my case with the Honourable Court, without any further notice to Tata Sky.



It is a matter of shock and shame that Tata Sky’s continues to flout TRAI directives which clearly obligate the DTH operator to offer certain minimum standards and adhere to fair practices, and lays out parameters of operation.



I. Deficiency of Service - No transmission when it is cloudy



As you may be aware there is a complete loss of Tata Sky’s signal as soon as clouds gather over the city of Kolkata. This happens for about 100 days a year, which means I am forced to pay about 25% to 30% more than what the operator advertises. Its flimsy excuse that it offers “best” world-class services and that some transmission loss is inevitable when it is cloudy (as the clouds come in between the dish and the satellite!), holds no water. If what Tata Sky says is correct, the city of London should receive DTH signals about 20% to 25% through the year on an average. The only obvious answer is that Tata Sky has dumped outdated and cheap technology to its Indian customers. It is a laughable claim that Tata Sky states its partners or technology partners to be a UK DTH operator company which apparently provides non-interrupted service to UK residents (despite the cloudy or rainy weather in UK). Is this discrimination or just that Tata Sky has purchased outdated technology?

Tata Sky still do not even have any local Helpline number in Kolkata or the eastern states (leave alone a toll-free number as directed by TRAI) owing to the fact that the monsoon is the longest here and it would be flooded with complaints during the monsoons.



II. LACK OF TRANSPARENCY



Tata Sky is not properly showcasing that each customer of its service must pay an ADDITIONAL sum of Rs. 500 per year for maintenance. Perchance this sum is not paid, the operator charges Rs. 300 minimum as an inspection fee in the event there is any problem at all with the service, even though such a problem may arise owing to no fault of the customer.



Tata Sky do not state that the MEANINGLESS words “Covered Fault” actually means that ALL faults are uncovered, after 1 year.

Tata Sky highlights and loudly advertises that its service has “Unmatched Features” and “Unmatched Services”. However it fails to advertise, in the same way, the not-so-palatable facts such as:



TATA SKY GUARANTEES NO SIGNAL WHEN IT IS CLOUDY.

TATA SKY GIVES NO REFUNDS EVEN If NO INSTALLATION IS DONE.

CUSTOMER MUST PAY ADDITIONAL RS. 500 YEARLY AFTER FIRST YEAR TO COVER ANY FAULT SERVICING.

WHEN TATA SKY SAYS “COVERED FAULTS” IT MEANS NO FAULTS ARE COVERED UNLESS YOU PAY EXTRA.

TATA SKY DOES NOT OFFER ANY TOLL FREE TELEPHONE NUMBERS.

BE PREPARED TO PAY STD CHARGES WHEN YOU WISH TO SPEAK WITH TATA SKY EVEN IF TATA SKY SYSTEM IS FAULTY.

TATA SKY RETAINS RIGHTS TO WITHDRAW ANY FREE CHANNEL AS AND WHEN IT WANTS WHETHER CUSTOMER LIKE IT OR NOT.

WE DO NOT FOLLOW TRAI DIRECTIVES.



III. LACK OF NOTICE BY TATA SKY



Tata Sky does not make any effort to advise its customers, whether by email, sms, phone call or letter, regarding the expiry of the one year warranty provided at the point of sale.



It does not advise its customers that the so-called Helpline number with digits 1 860 is NOT a toll-free number. We pay STD charges for reporting any defect in THEIR service.



IV. “NO REFUND” POLICY IS UNFAIR AND ANTI-CONSUMER



Tata Sky and its agents who distribute Tata Sky’s set-top boxes (aka Digicomps) strictly follow the immoral policy of not refunding moneys paid for such digicomps, including installation and activation of services, even if the installation is not done! I have personally fallen foul as a prey to this obnoxious policy of the DTH operator company.



After receiving my request for a 3rd connection, Tata Sky introduced its agent/representative, M/s Okay Call Tech to contact me to sell one Digicomp No.[protected], together with Tata Sky’s Digicard No.[protected], vide its Invoice No. 1457/07-08 dated 24th March, 2008, at a “discounted/special offer” sum of Rs. 1999, which included Activation and Installation charges as levied by the operator.



Until date, 27th July, 2008 (more than FOUR months), the box lies unconnected and no installation or activation has taken place, despite my many requests earlier to arrange the same. (I hope Tata Sky does not now try to find excuses for the delay in its ploy to not refund my moneys!) Ultimately, I had asked the company to refund the moneys paid by me, together with interest. NO ACTION!

The question of ownership of the Digicomp is vague; although a customer pays for it, and installation (including cabling etc), it appears that Tata Sky remains owner of the Dish and its attachments and ALL hardware, which one assumes would include the set-top box.



V. UNCLEAR AND ARBITRARY WARRANTY POLICY



It appears a deliberate strategy that Tata Sky does not rent out such boxes as done by the entire cable industry and as directed by you. However, it is very clear when it states that the Dish and its attachments are its property. If these are Tata Sky’s property, why should it charge the customer any money for rectification to any defects in service? If the dish etc are included in the monthly rental charged by it, how can it charge us moneys for any defects which may arise in the equipment or in the transmission? Tata Sky says the digicard belongs to it and that the hardware includes all equipment including the digicomp, remote control etc. However, it also asserts that the customer must pay a separate charge to warrant against defects, the equipment belonging to the operator.



VI. ILLEGAL AND UNETHICAL PRACTICES OF TATA SKY



It is also well-documented that, despite Tata Sky assertations that it does not allow one customer’s dish to be used by another customer, Tata Sky and its agents are freely following this practice rampantly for its own selfish ends of profiteering. If a problem arises in one dish, it can charge the service or inspection fee to FOUR customers, for any repairs which are carried out after the one year’s warranty period. This is grossly unfair and illegal. Does this mean the dish belongs to Tata Sky and it can handle it as it wishes? How does Tata Sky ascertain which customer is responsible for a malfunction?



In short, Tata Sky Limited have not followed any of TRAI directives:



1. Changing schemes frequently, by withdrawing channels offered earlier

2. Refusing to refund moneys for equipment and installation

3. Charging arbitrary fee to customers for rectifying faults in your system

4. Refusing to allow access to service on rental basis

5. Not arranging Toll-Free services helplines for lodging complaints

6. Not rectifying faults nor attending complaints within 5 days



I request you to take appropriate measures to provide a consumer with some relief! In addition, if you are able to enforce your directives, I feel it would be of great help to millions of consumers in India.