Telecommunication Operators in India caught Swindling the Government again in 3G Fraud even as 2G Scam simmers

Telecom Companies in India are in general an unscrupulous lot with the 2G Scam showing the whole telecom industry of India in a Bad Light.While a number of top executives of telecom companies spent time in jail,it seems that these companies have learned nothing.They continue to find loopholes to take both their customers and government for a ride.Indian Broadband and Telecom companies have made defrauding customers an art by illegally adding value added services and charging for them.They also burn millions of dollars in subsidized diesel to power their telecom towers since there is no restriction on that.Now these companies have been caught again in another manipulation trick in 3G services.

Indian Telecom Companies appropriating $500 million of Fuel Subsidies for Poor and generating > 5 million tons of Carbon through Massive Diesel Burning in Telecom Towers

Indian Telecom Companies are using more than $500 million in fuel subsidies meant for the poor and generating more than 5 million tons of carbon dioxide every year by using diesel gensets at telecom towers not connected to the grid.Note the Telecom Industry in India has not exactly covered itself with glory on other matters with the 2G Telecom Scam already putting top executives in jail and implicating top telecom companies as well.The issues of massive fuel wastage in telecom towers has been raised in the past in greenworldinvestor as telecom tower companies viom,gtl,airtel and others have tried to put lipstick on the pig by making a mockery of green initiatives by committing to convert only a miniscule number of total towers to renewable energy.

India’s Broadband,Telecom Companies – Bad Customer Care,Overbilling,Overcharging built into DNA as they Loot Millions of Dollars From the Very Poorest

It is a common practice amongst these companies to add value added services like caller tunes without the customer’s permission which is totally illegal.Since most of the customers do not know how the billing is happening and do not know how to turn it off,these companies make millions of dollars in illegal profits from such customers.Airtel,Reliance and other major telecom companies in India follow this practice widely and openly.Nobody is going to complain about 50c/month being charged wrongly by the telecom provider.However 50c multiplied by a 100 million customers is neat $50 million in profits for these companies.This overbilling of customers even extends to broadband customers as I recently found out .After a nightmarish experience with Tata Indicom whose pathetic customer service forced me to change to Airtel,I found a blatant case of overcharging of money in my very first bill.

The company Airtel had neatly added a Rs 100 extra charge for using a anti-virus software called “airtel pc secure” when i distinctly remember never asking for the software.The engineer who installed it and the salesperson who sold it never mentioned the fact and I never asked for it as I use a very good free anti-software and never in my dreams use a software from a telecom provider (why not go for Norton ). The customer care service is so bad at airtel that the number mentioned on the bill “121? for complaints does not work.The call centre operator says that the number works for prepaid customers even when the broadband bill mentions the number.Other numbers don’t work so I am forced to email the appleate authority (god knows what that means).After 2 days of not recieving a reply,when a mail says you should get a reply in 24 hours,airtel responds by saying they are removing the charge on my bill as a “Goodwill gesture”.The gall of the company is quite amazing,after having clearly committed a mistake (which I think is very widespread and not a mistake at all) the company acts descending on the customer.

Note most of these companies had to pay through their mouth in the 3G auction services.A number of them had failed to get 3G spectrum in most popular circles as the competition remains high in the Indian telecom sector with about 10 or more operators compared to 3-4 in most others.So what these companies have done is to offer 3G services to customer using roaming services.Note Roaming Services allow companies to give their customers communication options in regions where the companies don’t have their own services.It does not allow companies to offer services to new customers where they don’t have spectrum.These companies have made 3G Roaming a Farce by doing the same thing.Now the government is acting against this powerful telecom cartel,these companies are crying hoarse.

Read about Mobile Phone Companies in India

3G roaming: BSNL accuses telcos of illegally adding subscribers

In more trouble for private telecom players, BSNL today accused them of acquiring 3G subscribers by entering into “illegal” inter-circle roaming agreements in circles without having designated spectrum.
In an application filed before TDSAT, state-run BSNL has alleged that operators Bharti, Vodafone, Idea, Tatas and Aircel are providing 3G services by “misrepresenting” the public on the “strength of illegal arrangements /agreements” entered by them. “In some telecom service areas, without paying for 3G spectrum or investing a single penny in setting up telecom infrastructure, network etc are illegally acquiring and continue to acquire subscriber by misrepresenting that they can provide 3G services,” said BSNL in its application filed today.