[Resolved]  Vodafone India — cheating

Address:

New Delhi, Delhi

LEGAL NOTICE Sir, We are advised and instructed by our client Mr. Yash Anand, R/o. 5/25A, Jangpura-B, New Delhi- 110016 who has advised us that he is using a Mobile Number Portability (MNP)of your company being mobile no. +91-[protected] since beginning of this year. Our Client is an Advocate by profession who is successfully practicing in the Supreme Court of India, operating from Chamber at 84 Lawyers Chamber, Supreme Court of India. That our Client has further advised us that after portability of his mobile number to your company i.e. Vodafone, he was facing lots of problem with regards to the monthly billing, internet plan etc. That Our Client has further advice us that on 19.06.2014, he was living aboard to attend a wedding ceremony in California, United States of America therefore before living Delhi, he had visited your store at Lajpat Nagar inquiring about the best plan for mobile roaming aboard. In the process one of your customer care executive has suggested that there is a plan for Rs. 599 for a shorter trip & Rs. 1499 for a longer trip and our client was suggested by your Customer Care Executive that he should opt for 599 plan wherein the outgoing call will be Rs. 30 per/ min and incoming will be Rs. 15 per min. That our client based on the suggestion of your customer care executive, had opted for the 599 wherein our client was to deposit a sum of Rs. 5000/- (Rupees Five thousand only) as security Advance for activating the said plan and our client has duly deposited the advance security amount, our client was assured by your customer care executive that the said plan will be activated within 24 hours. Hence, without hesitation our client left for his short vacation to US on the same day and was schedule to return to India on 26.06.2014. That our client before boarding the flight, has disconnected all the data usages from his Cell Phone and was using only the phone calls option during his entire visit to USA. That on 25.06.2014 at around 10:38 GMT our Client received as Text message from your end, which is read as under: “Dear Customer Cr. Limit of yr. Vodafone number is Rs. 8000/-. Usage till date is Rs. 7713 (approx.). pl pay to enjoy uninterrupted service. Call 124 for details on how to pay” That as our client had opted for Rs. 599 Plan and he was leaving the next day i.e. 26.06.2014, he did not bother to call the customer care. That almost after 12 hours i.e. on 26.06.2014 to the utter shocked of our Client; his phone had been barred from both incoming and outgoing calls. Thereafter, our client requested one of his friend in India to pay a sum of Rs. 5000/- towards the bill of Rs. 7713/- (approx.) and requested the Customer Care to activate his number however his number was never activated despite paying almost half of the inflated Bill amount and despite having deposited a sum Rs. 5000/- as an advance towards the plan of 599. Our Client was very disappointed by the service provided by your company, who has immense reputation in telecom business. That on 28.06.2014 my Client received a text message around 16.34 Hr. acknowledging that the payment of Rs. 5000 has been received by your company however more surprisingly, the outstanding bill was mentioned as Rs. 5991/- as against the previous test message of 25.06.2014 which was Rs. 7713 (approx.). That after almost 2 hours at 18.03 Hrs. another text was received by our Client stating as under: “Dear Customer Yr services would be interrupted as usage of Rs. 14553 (approx.) has crossed cr. Limit. To restore, pl make pmt. Call 111 for details on how to pay”. It may be pertinent to mentioned here that our Client’s mobile have already been barred since 26.06.2014 and it was never activated. That our Client has further advice me that due to the sudden interruption/disconnection of his mobile service, he cannot communicate to any of his friends, relatives and most importantly his business Clients, as he is a lawyer by profession and the courts were opening from 30thjune 2014, due which he has suffered loss of so many valuable Clients and has suffered huge financial loss as well as his reputation in the legal fraternity. That our Client further advice me that even after returning from US, his phone was never activated and unfortunately our Client could not visit the Vodafone Store as he had gone to attend a funeral for one of his relatives at his hometown in Uttar Pradesh. That on 30.06.2014 after returning from his hometown when our Client visited the Vodafone Store at Lajpat Nagar and inquired about the reason for disconnection, the Customer Care executive informed our Client that there is a billing outstanding due of Rs. 23, 000/-. Our Client was shocked to learned that his mobile usage bill from 25.06.2014 to 26.06.2014 was Rs.23, 000/-. Thereafter, our client confronted with your customer care executive and told him/her that he had just taken a plan of Rs. 599 before leaving for US and according to the plan the outgoing call rate was Rs. 30/- per min. and incoming call rate was Rs. 15/- per min therefore our client had requested your customer care executive to re-checked the bill again however, to the utter shocked of our Client, the Customer care executive informed that 599 Plan was never activated to our Client’s mobile number and further informed that for activating that said plan our client should followed certain procedure however, the same was never explained to our client at the time of depositing the advance amount of Rs. 5000/- the act of your company amounts to Criminal breach of trust, fraud, cheating and further attract various other criminal offences prescribed in the penal Code. That our client was very disappointed, frustrated and dejected to the service rendered by your company towards innocent customers, decided to speak with the floor manager of your Lajpat Nagar Branch store and requested him to kindly looked into the matter, our client has also shown him the text message sent by your company regarding the credit limit and the usage bills till 25.06.2014, however the Manager did not give any heed to our Client’s request and instead informed our Client in a very impolite manner that the text message was a system generated one and it cannot be trusted and the bill cannot be rectified. That it is very surprising and awkward to learn that your company just to gain few thousand bucks has inflated a bill of Rs. 23, 000/- which our client was not at all liable to pay. It is pertinent to mention that our Client’s credit limit to his mobile number is just Rs. 8000/- then how could your company charged a bill triple the time of the said credit limit moreover, our Client’s mobile service has been disconnected since 26.06.2014. Why there was no written consent / intimation for enhancing the limit. Why the services were not disconnected, when it crossed the credit limit. That by way of the present notice we call upon your company to rectified the outstanding inflated bill and to pay a compensation of Rs.1 Crore for the business loss due to the sudden disconnection of his mobile no. without intimation and also a sum of Rs. 50, 000/- towards the mental harassment suffered by our Client. Under these circumstances, our Client is not prepared to bear with the situation anymore and has turned over the file to initiate appropriate legal proceedings against your company, including a complaint to the TRAI. We have however thought it fit to give your company yet another opportunity, definitely the last one to rectify the outstanding inflated bills bringing the usage under the plan of Rs. 599 and to cost of compensation for business loss and mental harassment as well. You are hereby called upon to take appropriate steps within 15 days of the receipt of this notice for rectifying the outstanding inflated bill and to pay a compensation of Rs.1 crore for the business loss due to the sudden disconnection of his mobile no. without intimation and also a sum of Rs. 50, 000/- towards the mental harassment suffered by our Client along with Rs.15, 000/- being the cost of sending this notice failing which our client would be left with no other option than to initiate appropriate legal proceedings against your company, both civil and criminal, and complaint to the TRAI as he may be advised. It would be in your interest to comply with the requisition herein and thus obviate the necessity of any unpleasant steps having to be initiated against your company. A copy of this notice has been retained by us in our office for necessary future action. Sincerely, (YASH ANAND & ASSOCIATES) Copy to: Vodafone Group Plc, Vodafone House, The Connection Newbury Berkshire, RG14F, England, United Kingdom.