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BSNL's move to charge advance rental draws flak

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CIOL Bureau
New Update

PUNE: A circular issued by Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. (BSNL) directing

subscribers to pay rental of two months in advance besides call charges for the

regular billing cycle, has come under flak from subscribers in Pune.

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But what has apparently not gone down well with the subscribers, is BSNL's

move to charge subscribers with five months rentals, whose bills are due in June

2001,while shifting to the new system of advance rental. In monetary terms, the

rental alone would amount to Rs 1,250 with additional local call charges for the

last two months.

The Akhil Bharatiya Grahak Panchayat, a consumer rights association in Pune

has taken up the cudgels on behalf of the affected subscribers. The Pune units

of the Panchayat has exhorted telephone subscribers all over the city to

voluntarily shut their phones for a day in protest against the rental in advance

system recently announced by BSNL.

The system of charging phone rental in advance was in practice till 1999. The

system was discontinued because the rental was charged according to two

different slabs depending on whether the calls made were more or less than 400

in number. Panchayat's city unit general secretary Thaksen Pore said that they

had urged all telephone subscribers to remove their connections and desist from

paying the custody charges in a move to convey the displeasure of the public at

large to the BSNL.

Subscribers have been asked to participate in the `Bolti Band' campaign. The

Panchayat has already handed over a memorandum to BSNL Principal General Manager

Nirmal Saroop Pune. City Congress President Mohan Joshi had earlier warned of an

agitation by his party in case the BSNL moved ahead with the implementation of

the order.

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