If any of the readers here use Airtel and roam extensively either locally or internationally, please check your bills before you blindly pay them. We learnt this the hard way, and when we approached them to help me resolve this issue, they actually threatened us with a lawsuit if I did not pay up in full.
Users who extensively use roaming facilities from Airtel will be better off if they check their bills in detail and cross check on the charges that Airtel charges you. There is an average markup of 20-25% on international roaming charges. This is besides the 15% that is charged on international roaming.
Finance executives in SIFY, where I work actually discovered this problem when they compared roaming bills from Airtel with those from Hutch and RPG Cellular. The finance executives then got in touch with Airtel’s corresponding service providers in Europe and the US and figured that Airtel actually had a 20% markup on such bills as compared to those from Hutch and RPG Cellular. When the finance team started working backwards on the older bills from Airtel, they discovered that the markup was prominent in all the bills and when contacted, Airtel has been cagey ever since on roaming bills.
When we thought that this was a one off case, many people we contacted seem to have the same issues but did not not how to go about getting an answer. If any reader can help us with this, PLEASE post your response.