Reliance Mobile Operator

I am updating this article to add current status as on may25 ( to be fair with rim !)

PS: This article is relevant/meaningful for INDIAN residents ONLY

Hi friends,

background/motivation:

I would like to share with you some problem faced by reliance india mobile (RIM) customers so that you can take better decisions and this knowledge will help you in taking better decisions. after all knowledge is power!

RIM -> 1) woes of migration from pioneer to budget plans

a) Some of us have joined the reliance india mobile scheme ( i’ll call RIM now onwards) through DAPO pioneer scheme by paying an upfront money of 23000/-(twenty three thousand only) which includes Rs 18000 for next 36months(500*36) and Rs 2000/- (NLD/STD deposit) and Rs 3000 (club membership) .

b) After few months Reliance came out with better plans and has ’generously’ offered it’s loyal customers options to migrate in to these from their pioneer scheme. Simple form . pay additional 350/- and switch to budget 149a. no more details in that form.

c) I was one of the few (UN)lucky customers to opted for it.

d) Ater some time I had been shifted to budger149 plan and I had completed 6 SIX months in pioneer DAPO scheme till that time. I had paid all monthly bills regularly till this time.(may-oct 03)

e) From then onwards(nov 03) I started receiving bills bills under budget plans. But they SOME HOW forgot that I had paid all money upfront and there is still Rs 15000(30 months) +2000 credit with them.

f) despite my numerous email complaints+ telephone calls + web world visits nothing happens. Infact they made another blunder by trying to refund my NLD deposit 2000/- . But instead of refunding they had add it the bills. so my bill goes up by 2000/-

g) See I had invited trouble to myself. so again I was after them and so after few more emails +ww visits+customers services pleads they retract the NLD deposit. But they still did not remember the credit of rs 15000 + 2000 /- with them.

h) Now it is five months past. (Nov03 - Mar 04) bills. my total bill outstanding is 3k+ and from their point of view since I did not pay they have added some penalty charges also. Their another active vigilant department sends me a SMS ?see your usage is high so pay partial amount ’’ .

i) Each month some RESTRICTED Number calls me and asks ’’DID you pay or not? Now I had to convince them ’’ see sir ..... actually there was a credit of Rs 17000 with reliance and blah blah’’ . they will say ’’ ok let us see....’’.

j) Today only I spoke to cust. Service dept who say that I should go to any nearest web world and submit all my payment details. And they will update the details and do the needful. See all the bill payments(in addition to prepaid500/- [plan charges 400+100] ) are done through credit card and cheques and now everything is there in their records as well. Cust.serv also says if I vist once web world all my problems will be settled.

so the story goes on .............

------------------------------------------------UPDATED ON 25TH MAY 04------------------

.....STOP! STOP! . after a long struggle and hardwork

office people than cust.care.

-----------------------------------------------END OF UPDATE------------------------------------

Last line1 : Reliance is supposed be the highest paying employee and also known extract maximum work from them. But after experiencing their SLUMBER(sleep nap snooze doze) for six months I just wonder how things are happening at Reliance infocom ( of Reliance). No doubt they are trying to add more technology. but their billing dept is so inept (incompetent, clumsy, useless, hopeless, bungling......) needs to wakeup or this will tarnish the groups image as a whole! Oh God give them better brains and people!

Last line2 I remember once Shri Mittal of Bharti telcom told ?after the private players entry the world will change. You need not bribe the lineman to lay telephone connection but the lineman will come to your house with a box of Mithai!? I do not know whether Bharti customers are receiving their dose of MITHAI or not but with reliance they definitely make sure that we receive our dose of MITHAI now and then!! With BSNL things were slightly old fashioned but never this bad. I had my BSNL connection. Surprisingly I never had reasons to complain. I feel sorry for myself for disconnect BSNL and opting for RIM ( sorry I can not resist writing Last line2 after I remembered Mittal?s words)

Part 2) woes of R-connect users

a) when we joined the RIM they told no more ISP charges.

b) They also told a flat fee of 40 p / min will be charges

c) After locking many customers for 3 sweet years now Reliance says there will be a monthly additional charge of Rs 200/-(min) in addition to 40 p /min.

d) This means for users of low times it will be really very high rates.

e) Secondly whether they use it in a month or not they may be charges 200 p.m

f) In contrast if I buy a 100 hr package from any ISP at the rate of Rs1000 and pay Rs 1.2 / 3 min I will end up paying Re 0.57 / min irrespective of usage. If I use only 5 minutes I will pay for 5 minute

g) The following table shows the effective rate /min if we use RIM for internet

usage in minutes eff charge/ min

30 7.066666667

60 3.733333333

90 2.622222222

120 2.066666667

150 1.733333333

180 1.511111111

210 1.352380952

240 1.233333333

270 1.140740741

300 1.066666667

330 1.006060606

360 0.955555556

Last line : MTNL cameout with a /MB charge . that is they will charge depending upon how many megabit/byes you have actually transferred and not merely time you logged in. This is a actual user friendly action. Otherwise they promise heavenly speeds and whether you actually transfer or not you will pay for the time.