Harassment by tata photon to pay bill after disconnection

#1
I was a tata photon plus customer since 2009.My Tata photon no. is 9212618901. My account no. is 904915321. On June 29,2012 I had called up tata photon customer service and requested disconnection of service as I had moved to kolkata and no longer had the need for a mobile internet connection.

I was told that a direct disconnection was not possible and my account would be kept in safe custody for 6 months and only after I confirmed my request after 6 months would the service be disconnected.I was meanwhile assured that I would receive no bill in this 6 month period. I agreed as I was told there was no other way this disconnection could be done.I was given request no. 316023721.

I subsequently started getting bills for Rs 83 every month.On September 12,2012 I again called up tata customer service and demanded to know why I was getting these bills.Their executive(Mr Vishal) checked my account, duly apologised, and told me that these bills amounting to Rs 166 would be waived off and no bills would be sent in the future. The Rs 166 was waived off as promised but from next month onwards the Rs 83 monthly bill started again.

Exasperated, on Jan 13,2013 at 9 P.M I called up customer service again seeking an end to this harassment. This time their executive told me that I was getting those bills because I had requested for safe custody and not disconnection. It took me more than half an hour to explain the entire story to their executive who further discussed it with some senior. I was finally told that this bill of Rs 291 would be waived off and categorically assured that my account was being disconnected. I demanded a request no. and was put on hold for the same, but the line got disconnected without me being given a request no.

Then suddenly I received a call saying that my plan has been changed AS PER MY REQUEST. I told him that the only request I had made was for disconnection and not for any plan change and then slammed the phone down as frankly I had had enough.

Then I started receiving bills for Rs 664 (I have no idea from where this figure came about) . Exasperated, I wrote about this entire ordeal in an email to tata (at customercare.delhi@tatatel.co.in) on March 10,2013 but again tata did not bother to reply. I received a call from tata a few weeks back threatening legal action if I did not pay outstanding dues. I explained this whole story to them to no avail. Finally I received a legal notice from tata today asking me to pay up Rs 1587 plus Rs 500 as notice costs within 7 days or they would move court against me.

I have not used tata photon even for a single second after June 2012. I have the copy of the email I sent to tata in March 2013 where I detailed this entire ordeal. The issue here is not the Rs 1587 which no doubt is a petty amount but the harassment and extortionist tactics by greedy and unethical companies like tata who believe that the customer has no right to disconnect their services and resort to naked robbery to try and squeeze the maximum possible money from them.

After reading these forums, I realised that I am not alone and this is the standard operating procedure adopted by tata teleservices whenever a customer asks for disconnection of services. I think it is high time we, the wronged and harassed customers get together and legally take tata to task and make them pay for their sins. I would welcome any guidance or suggestions regarding how to proceed legally against tata teleservices.

Dr Puneet Gulati
 

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