Trai — Appeal towards cheating, harassment and unprofessional behavior amounting to total violations of pandemic 2020 act by; disconnection of services

Jan 07, 2021

Updated by Dr. Gupta Ashok Appellate Authority
Telecom Regulatory Authority of India
[protected]@trai.gov.in

Subject:
Appeal towards cheating, harassment and unprofessional behavior amounting to total violations of pandemic 2020 act by;
And Disconnection of services of a senior citizen a specialist doctor working endlessly for covid care: despite having paid all the outstnadins within stipulated time frame:

Reference: [protected]

This is to draw your attention to the cheating, harassment and unprofessional behavior amounting to total violations of pandemic 2020 act gross high handedness, rowdy, unprofessional behavior / harassment and disconnection of mobile services of a Senior Citizen, a Specialist Doctor working endlessly for COVID CARE:

Given the fact that in the present scenario, mobile connectivity and number has gained so much importance and has proved to be a lifeline for all the healthcare workers at this critical time of COVID Pandemic. Stoppage or disconnection of such services by its service provider is not only unprofessional behavior / harassment but also AMOUNTING TO TOTAL VIOLATIONS OF PANDEMIC 2020 ACT. It can have serious personal and financial implications and hardship to several patients / hospitals needing urgent and lifesaving communications.

Sir, I had a family Plan with [protected] as primary number and [protected] and [protected] as added secondary numbers. All the bills for the said family plans were paid online as per the bills and there were no dues at any time. (Bills for Sept – Oct and Oct- Nov pasted as below)

Total payable for [protected] was only Rs. 424 for other numbers in the family plan [protected] and [protected] collectively was Rs. 1782/- and I did pay Rs. 2102.76 inclusive of all Taxes.

As per the bill for the period from 26th Oct to 25th Nov. 2020, Total payable for [protected] was only Rs. 399/- and for other numbers in the said family plan for [protected] and [protected] collectively was Rs. 468.81 inclusive of Taxes. Due to issues with Net banking and to pay within the stipulated period, I personally visited the Air Tel Gallery located near Century Bazar, Prabhadevi and paid Rs. 665/- in cash, as per the bill pasted below for the period of 26th Oct to 25th Nov. 2020, clearing all the extra chargeable amount/arrears on account of Porting out of the [protected] and [protected] and to my surprise the Agent refused to either offer the breakup of these charges or issue a receipt towards the said cash payment on the pretext that it will be uploaded in the system.

It is worth noting that as per the last updated bill BM2127/[protected] THE BILL PERIOD WAS FROM 26th Oct to 25th Nov. 2020, WHILE THE PORTING REQUEST FOR THE SAID MADE ON 14th Oct. 2020 immediately after the payments of Rs. 1419.54 through Net Banking. The copy of the bank Statement confirming online payment is;
15/10/20 HGA1P0ED[protected]AIR TEL POSTPAID-BILL
[protected] [protected] = Rs. 1419.54

It is further to draw your attention that I had ported my said [protected] number from Air Tel to Jio due to poor Services and Network at the Hospital and as per the bill raised by the Jio dated 14th November 2020 a bill for the period of 14th October to 13th November 2020, an amount Rs. 182.42 was raised and was paid by me online through the Net Banking. (copy of the Bill Annexed)

It is further to draw your attention that the said [protected] number was ported out to Jio Network which was confirmed by JIO vide an e-Mail dated 3rd November 2020 and I quote:

[protected]@Jio.com Tue 11/3/2020 10:48 AM
Dear Customer,

Thank you for choosing Jio.
We have received your application for Jio Number [protected].
Your Order Number is NO0000FJGP2L.
To track the status of your order, click http://tiny.jio.com/trackorder

Kindly follow the below steps to set up Jio Network :
1. Insert new Jio SIM in SIM slot 1 of your dual sim handset.
2. Go to Settings - Sim Cards & Mobile Networks and set Data Preference to Sim 1 and network mode to 4G/LTE.
3. Set "Data Roaming" as "On/Always" to experience seamless data experience across the country.

After sorting out the issue of corrupted Sim Card (I had personally visited the Jio Service Centre located Opp. Siddhi Vinayak Temple and uploaded my ID including Adhaar Card + Pan card), and finally my Sim Card got activated only on 15th November 2020. I further received:

[protected]@Jio.com Sun 11/8/2020 10:29 AM
Reference # Jio/MUH0IFWPVM Dated 08th November, 2020
Registered Mobile
[protected]
Account Number
[protected]
Billing Cycle
14th of each month


Thereafter, I have been regularly paying all my dues as per the bills raised by the JIO i.e. Rs. 240.72 on 17th Nov. 2020 and Rs. 547.52 on 28th Dec. 2020 and Rs. 159.3 on 1st January 2021
17/11/20 SI HGA1P14B[protected]
JIO POS-[protected] 240.72

28/12/20 SI HGA1P13BF[protected]
JIO POS [protected] 547.52
01/01/21 HGA1P0CB[protected]
JIOPOSTPAID-BILLPAY[protected] [protected] 159.3

In view of the above facts, it is clear that I have been paying all my dues as per the billed amount and with due care with any breaks.

I also updated my ID proofs i.e. Pan Card / Adhaar Card at the time activation of the ported Numbers. I had personally visited the Jio Service Centre, located opp. Siddhi Vinayak Temple at Prabhadevi Mumbai and the Agent uploaded my ID proofs like the Pan Card / Adhaar Card.

I did receive a SMS from Jio “On your number [protected] there is an overdue of Rs. 92.31 with AIRTEL. As per MNP regulation, services to number will be restricted on Jio network if this outstanding amount is not cleared immediately.

Click [www.jio.com/r/nY2RE2yp4]www.jio.com/r/nY2RE2yp4 to make the payment of the outstanding amount at the earliest. Please share the payment details with us by calling at 199.

I did make the due payments immediately through the link provided using Net banking with HDFC Bank and I received below confirmation:

28 Dec 2020 kqqhi5mnabz2jp6xca-PAYUBHARTIAIRTELLIMI [protected] 28 Dec 2020 92.00

As there was no option of paying the decibel point and 31 Paisa being less than 50 Paisa, I rounded up to Rs.92.00 only.

Thereafter, I tried several times to call on 199 to update the information on the payments made, but it was only a recorded message and there were no options to update the payments made. It is a ridiculous way of harassing customers by giving a number to call which does not have the correct options. Please it is worth noting that I had complied with all the requirements and made payments on the link provided by the message despite the fact that there was no due pending and once again to confirm that I had paid up completely before the porting request and did not use any service until the porting was completed.

I received a Call from the Appellate Authority Air Tel mentioning that the link provided for the said payment was wrong and they did not receive the said payment. I really wonder how the Jio Network can share wrong link for payment and then has audacity and with malicious intensions to harass and squeeze customers using unfair means. It also amounts to CHEATING, HARASSMENT AND UNPROFESSIONAL BEHAVIOR and TOTAL VIOLATIONS OF PANDAMIC 2020 ACT.

Following my several requests and reminder, I received an e-Mail as:

From: 'Appellate_Mumbai' <appellate.[protected]@jio.com>
Sent: Sunday, January 3, 2021 4:33 PM
To: [protected]@hotmail.com <[protected]@hotmail.com>

Dear Ashok,

I understand you have cleared the outstanding dues with your previous operator.

In order to reactivate the same number:

1. You are requested to visit nearest Jio Store with original Aadhaar or POA and POI along with disconnected SIM Card
2. Re-activation of your disconnected number will required validation from Vodafone which will take 24 Hrs to 72 Hrs.

Post validation from Vodafone, your number will be re-activation. Please note re-activation request can be initiated only within 60 Days from the date of disconnection.

Thank You,
Benson Samuel
Team Jio
It was one of the most distasteful and non-courteous response and
I did replied on 1/3/2021 3:14 PM, Ashok GUPTA wrote:

It must be put on records that I am a Senior Citizen (verified by my Uploaded Adhaar + PAN Card) and wonder why I have to walk to the Jio Service Centre. Why can this not be done online. My details of Adhaar + Pan Card have been uploaded several times in your system.

I just received a call from the AirTel Service Centre that the issue of non-receipt of the Credit of the outstanding payment of Rs. 92/- has been sorted out and due Credit has been passed on to Jio Network.

28 Dec 2020 kqqhi5mnabz2jp6xca-PAYUBHARTIAIRTELLIMI [protected] 28 Dec 2020 92.00

It is highly irresponsible and unprofessional behavior of the Jio team to send me such message with incorrect link and a non-functional number for uploading the payment details and their action discontinuing the services of a Medical Professional whose services are needed 24X7 during the current COVID CRISIS,

I really wonder and challenge that how any of the Service provider can take a decision to suspend services of a Medical Service provider without attending to several calls made to 199 from the concerned Number. Are these regulators are not Governed by any ethics and just there to harass and squeeze the customers.

Also having uploaded the Adhaar + Pan Card have been uploaded several times in Airtel + Jio your system, why I am made to reach out to the Service Centre for re-activation of the Services. Why can’t any agent visit my residence to comply with the requirements? (Even Police reaches out to Senior Citizens rather than calling them to Police Station)

Under the circumstances, I demand an unconditional apology, immediate restoration of my services, failing which to pay a compensation @ Rs. 5000/- (Five Thousands) per day of the discontinued services and Rs. 1, 00, 000/- (One Lac) towards mental and physical harassment and agony.


Dr. Ashok Gupta
Recipient of “Padma Shri” 2009
Recipient of “Sheikh Hamdan International Award" 2010
M.S., M. Ch., DNB, FRCS, F.N.A.M.S. D.Sc.,
M.Phil. (Hosp & Health Syst. Management) BITS. PILANI,
Suite No. 15 & 16, Second Floor, Laud Mansion
21. M. Karve Road, Mumbai 400004 (India)
Tel. No.[protected] / 2388 8963
Cellular:[protected] /[protected] /[protected]
e-Mail: [protected]@yahoo.co.in / [protected]@hotmail.com
[www.drashokgupta.com]www.drashokgupta.com