I got my TATA DOCOMO prepaid SIM on 20th Aug 2009 in Pune. After the necessary filling up of forms and submission of documents, paid up Rs 49 for the prepay SIM with lifetime validity, which included a Rs 5 bundled talktime. I did not have a spare phone to stuff the SIM into, so I headed home and on arrival, inserted the SIM and the connection was already activated. So pleased with myself, I decided to make the first call and it worked!
However, few days down the line I receive an SMS requesting me to submit documents to the nearest TryeValue hub. So I did that again, but kept of getting SMS messages. Called up the customer service 121 after a great ordeal I was able to connect to the customer service and these folks simply did not have any explanation on the documents submitted earlier and asked me not to bother about the SMS messages, so much so for customer communication.
The network was launched only 2 days back in Pune when I got my connection and yes - there were initial hiccups and network congestion issues. However, things improved drastically in a month of service and is now up to the mark to be able to make/receive calls without congestion or call drops.
The network is pretty good in city areas at least in Pune but you have zero network in fringe areas or basement kind of setups. Call rates are really cheap. 1p/sec was hard to believe even for STD calls. I did make a large number of calls and was still able to have some balance left from my Rs 100 recharge at the end of 1 month, so great. The calls remained connected most of the time without hangups and 1 sec accuracy was precise. I dont SMS much so the 100 SMS offer was not on my radar.
Customer services is I would say poor to non existent. Lucky if someone does actually get connected to 121 in the first place, generally your phone would smash up at you with a network busy message on attempting to reach out customer service.
Overall its good value for money, but beware - before you get your connection check network coverage in your area. Also TATA claims they have 3G but havent had any supportive services yet to confirm if they are truly 3G enabled