Value Added Service Activated Without Consent? Dial 155223 And Get It Deactivated!

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Posted on February 7, 2013 by Runjhun

Complaint Against Wrong Activation Of Value Added Services, Register At 15223 And Get It Deactivated

It was a couple of days ago that we reported TRAI’s latest initiative to curb the pesky calls menace where the consumers were required to forward the erring SMS to 1909 for registering a complaint against it. (See full story Received A Pesky SMS? Forward It To 1909.)

While the success of this service is still under scrutiny with plenty of consumers reporting that menace continues unrelented. It remains a point of debate whether this is a result of lack of consumer initiative in using the services and reporting or the service has failed to achieve its objective as such. Perceived success notwithstanding, this was still a start and is bound to have made a difference at least in some quarters, even if not entirely in visible.

And now, TRAI has come up with another set of services to curb the widely prevalent practice of activating value added services (VAS) without the consumer’s consent. Consumers can now register complaint about wrongful activation of value added services (VAS) like internet and caller tunes on a new common number, 155223, for all operators.

These services are, by design, more action oriented that the previous one dealing with pesky SMS in the sense that once the complaint has been registered by a consumer, telecom operators will have to refund the amount charged for such activation of services. The only condition here is that to be able to get the refund, the consumer will have to inform about it within 24 hours on this common number.

Subscribers who have been using any value added services beyond 24 hours can also request for deactivation of service on this number. Telecom operator will have to deactivate service within four hours of getting phone call but the customer will not be eligible to claim refund in such cases.

The regulations have come in place from February 1, after the industry players failed to convince TRAI against them. Simply put, February 1, 2013 onwards, operators will have to take consent of subscribers before activating any VAS and deactivate it without charging for it if no consent is received from them.

Interestingly, compliance with these regulations will lead to an estimated Rs 12,000 crore revenue loss to the industry, which just about begins to describe the extent to which the industry thrives on cheating and troubling average consumers.

Good Riddance, we say!

New number to deactivate unwanted mobile services (Times of India)

Internet Junkies Rejoice! Internet Service Providers Liable To Pay Heavy Fine For Bad Services, Says TRAI.

Posted on January 24, 2013 by Runjhun

Internet Service Providers Liable To Pay Heavy Fine For Bad Services, Says TRAI (Picture Credit :commerce.idaho.gov)

Tired of your broadband services never living upto their promises?

Seems like TRAI is tired to and hence taken it upon itself to rectify the situation.

As per the updated Quality of Service regulations effective since January 1, 2013, an Internet Service Provider (ISP) found guilty of providing broadband services that fail to achieve the benchmark of Quality of Service (QoS), will be fined up to 50,000 rupees for every parameter found below quality benchmark. For subsequent contraventions of the QoS, the amount shall go up to One Lakh.

TRAI has also directed the ISPs to submit a Performance Monitoring Report, failing which they would be fined a sum of up to Rs 5,000 for every day that the default continues. In the event of an ISP submitting a false Performance Monitoring Report, it would be liable to pay a fine of Rs 10 lakh per parameter falsified.

As per the broadband QoS regulations, 2006, few of the relevant parameters that the ISPs are required to comply with include :

100% activation in less than or equal to 15 days after the payment is done.
Repair of any fault or restoration of services to be completed by next working day in more than 90% of cases, and 99% in next 3 working days.
Less than 2% billing complaints per 100 bills issued and 100% of billing complaints resolved within 4 days. Also, 100% refund of deposit within 60 days of closure of account.
60% of calls answered within 60 seconds, 80% of calls within 90 seconds.
Subscribed Broadband Connection Speed to be met more than 80% from ISP Node to User.

Simply put, your ISP can no longer get away with shoddy and lax services without bearing a severe pecuniary consequence. In principle, this is an excellent move to ensure better consumer services from the ISPs. What reamins to be seen is how effective these measures actually turn out to be!

You can find the complete QoS Regulations, 2006 here and TRAI’s latest dierctives here.

Bad Idea Sirji! Idea Cellular Fails To Implement TRAI Regulations For Curbing Pesky SMSs, To Face Action!

Posted on December 12, 2012 by Runjhun

Complaint Against Idea Cellular, TRAI Initiates Action For Failing To Implement Regulations Against Pesky SMS

A couple of days ago, we had reported that TRAI has come up with new regulations to curb the menace of pesky calls and SMSes, issued on November 5, 2012. See the full story here, Received A Pesky SMS? Forward It To 1909. TRAI’s Latest Regulations To Curb The Peskiness.

We had told you how you can file a complaint against a pesky SMS by forwarding it to 1909. However, if you are an Idea customer and tried it, chances are you would have failed!

It has barely been a month since the regulations came into place and TRAI seems to be determined to have them taken seriously, especially when it comes to implementation by the service providers.

As per these regulations, called `The Telecom Commercial Communications Customer Preference (Tenth Amendment) Regulations, 2012′, the service providers were directed to put in place procedures and mechanisms for easy lodging of complaints against unsolicited commercial communication (UCC) through SMS by simply forwarding the UCC SMS to 1909 after appending the telephone number and date of receipt of the SMS.

There were several other measures and changes that were to be implemented by the service providers within 15 days.

Upon receiving complaints that some of the operators are not adhering to the revised process, the Authority sought a compliance report wherein it was found that all players have implemented the same except Idea Cellular. TRAI has initiated action against Idea Cellular for failing to comply by the regulations within the given time frame.

That was definitely not a good idea, Sirji!

Trai initiates action against Idea (NDTV Profit)

(Picture Credit : Topnews.in)

Warning: Getting A New SIM Just Got Really Tough! TRAI Implements Stringent Regulations.

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Posted on November 25, 2012 by Runjhun

Getting A SIM Gets Tougher, TRAI Implements Stringent Regulations

Remember the times when getting a SIM was easier than buying a sabji-bhaji from the neighborhood market?

Don’t give us that look. We have not lost it. Not yet.

The days of easy SIM getting are will soon be history. Or if the reports from down south are to believed than they already ARE history.

With DoT coming up with stringent regulations in allotment of news SIMs, life is set to get way more troublesome for ‘mango’ consumers. For brewing troubles, see Buying A New SIM? Brace Yourself For Troubles, Delays And Denial!

We give you a lowdown.

The new regulations have been implemented by DoT from November 9 according to which prepaid and postpaid customer will not get pre-activated SIM card and only after physical ‘verification of subscriber’ mobile connection can be issued or activated.

The SIM card activation is now possible only after following the new verification process and may take anywhere between 3-7 days to get activated.

Mobile operators need to do telephonic verification of new customer and also physical signing of Customer Acquisition Forms (CAF). Postpaid and Prepaid Mobile connections are to be cleared only after physical verification of all original documents and matching of the applicant and the photograph attached to the application/CAF.

Crucially, if the information filed in CAF is found to be false, the seller or the mobile operator’s franchise can file a police complaint within 15 days and bring the issue to the notice of the telecom operators.

In this multi-layered system of verification, even the the retailer of mobile SIM cards needs to sign authenticating the documents submitted by the customer with CAF for having verified with original copies of proof of address and identity. It is also mandatory for the licensee/operator (mobile/telecom service provider) to sign the form prior to activation of the SIM card certifying the information provided on the form is correct.

Legal action can be taken against the telecom operators who fail to take action against SIM card retailers and customers who provide and acquire SIMs based on forged documents.

The norms have been in place for a couple of days now. We are in perfect agreement with the reasoning behind the implementation of these norms. And that is definitely not because we are still reeling under some kind of post Kasab hangover. It is because we realize the gravity that unverified SIM allotments can pose and have posed in the past.

Also, the existing subscriber databases are also being cleaned up. Bogus or defunct connections are being deactivated. The shake-up has led to many operators shedding subscriber numbers by up to 5 per cent of their databases.

Stringent measure for security’s sake are absolutely commendable. But like every security measure, these too come with their own set of inconveniences–severe inconveniences.

But are they worth it? Only time will tell. But we really hope they are. We really hope!

DoT Tightens Norms : No Mobile Connection Without Physical Verification (Telecomtalk)

Now, tighter norms for new SIM cards (The Hindu)

Washing Troubles! Whirpool To Pay 37K For Not Repairing A Defective Washing Machine.

Posted on November 22, 2012 by Runjhun

complaint against Whirlpool, to pay 37K for not repairing a washing machine

And we always thought Whirlpool was an expert at homemaking.

Apparently, it specializes in cheating too!

Mummy didn’t tell Whirlpool, warranty period means a period of free repairs…not free troubles.

A consumer in Delhi bought a Whirlpool fully automatic washing machine in August 2009 with a warranty of 2 years. In January 2011, the machine stopped working and he was told that the warranty had expired. Despite payment and repairs, the timer of the machine was still defective and no replacement was available with the company.

The New Delhi District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum relied on service bills issued by the multinational company, which manufactures and markets home appliances, to hold that the washing machine had a defective timer and Whirlpool had not repaired it. The forum has directed the company and its dealer to pay Rs 37,500 as compensation to the aggrieved consumer.

The company had also argued that the model in question had been discontinued in 2005. However, the forum rejected the argument stating that even if the model was discontinued, it was still available in the market and the stocks were not withdrawn and hence, the company is liable for complaint arising with respect to them.

Whirlpool to pay Rs 37K over washing machine non-repair. (Indian Express)

Received A Pesky SMS? Forward It To 1909. TRAI’s Latest Regulations To Curb The Peskiness.

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Posted on November 15, 2012 by Runjhun

Forward Pesky SMS To 1909. TRAI's Latest Regulations To Curb The Peskiness.

We highlight the menace with apparent delight (our heart breaks…really it does…we are only bad with expressions!) and so we are duty bound to highlight the solutions–at least the ones that are on the table, efficacy notwithstanding.

So we had been talking about the pesky call/SMS troubles and what TRAI had been trying to do about it. See Pesky Calls/SMS Alert! Even Kapil Sibal Is Not Spared.

We had highlighted that TRAI has come up with fresh regulations to curb this menace and enable consumers to save themselves from the inconvenience. We give you a low down on the salient features of these regulations.

As per the latest guidelines, in order to curb the misuse of the concessional tariff plans for bulk users, a price restraint has been placed on sending of more than one hundred SMS per day per SIM at a concessional rate. The subscriber is free to send SMSs beyond this number, however, all such SMSs sent beyond one hundred SMS per day per SIM shall be charged at a rate not lower than 50 paise per SMS.

Access providers have also been mandated to put in place a solution that will enable that not more than 200 commercial SMSs with similar digital signature are sent in an hour. This, however, is not applicable to non-commercial SMSs.

Most significantly for the consumers, filing a complaint against pesky callers have been made easy. The consumers can now be lodged by simply forwarding the pesky SMS (technically called UCC-Unsolicited Commercial Communication) to 1909 after appending the telephone number and date of receipt. A dedicated complaint registering system has to be put in place by the service providers.

Apart from these, the providers are required to take an undertaking from new consumers to ensure that the connection is not used for telemarketing purposes and the Access providers are also required to keep consumers informed via periodic SMSs about the consequences of sending illegal commercial communications.

TRAI’s Guidelines Are Available Here.