I came across the complaint of Mr. Sivakumar Nachimuthu of SRF, CIFE, Mumbai 400061 regarding wrong billing on his prepaid mobile connection of HUTCH. In his case, HUTCH had alleged that there must be something wrong with the handset. But in my case, HUTCH said that it is not possible to investigate complaints of excess billing in case of prepaid connection, meaning thereby that the consumer of a prepaid connection has no remedy against wrong billing and he has to suffer even in case of the system failure on the part of the service provider like HUTCH.
I am a subscriber of HUTCH in respect of a prepaid mobile connection. For two days, i.e. 20th and 21st April I found that I was billed at twice the rate. I talked to Mr. Butt Avais of HUTCH on 22226 about the same but he was unable to sort out the problem. He informed me that sitting at the service center, he would not be able to verify the details but anyone at the Hutch Gallery would be able to do so. I sent an SMS to 6790 recording the above but there was no response except for the standard reply SMS stating 'We appreciate your feedback. Thank you!
I normally check my balance every morning and on 21st morning, I found that the amount debited for the previous day was rather on the higher side. I then made a call to a local number and again checked the balance after the call and came to know that I had been billed at twice the rate. I noted down the details of the local call as well as the time at which the same was made. It lasted for 53 seconds but my account was debited for Rs.3.98 instead of Rs.1.99. I furnished the details to HUTCH by e-mails dated 25-4-06 and 29-4-06.
On 29th at about 10:00 hrs Mr. Ashish from HUTCH called me and stated that since I am subscriber of a prepaid mobile, it was not possible to verify my calling details, meaning thereby that my complaint could not be looked into. This was contrary to what your Mr. Butt Avais informed me on 21st.
Thereafter, I had sent three e-mails to various officers of the HUTCH. The final reply, which I got, was that it was not possible for the HUTCH to verify excess billing complaints of prepaid subscribers.
If there is a system failure on the part of the HUTCH even for five minutes, during which the prepaid subscribers are charged at double the rate, the HUTCH must me wrongfully earning lacs of Rupees. It is not believable that the calling details of a prepaid subscriber are not accessible in the system of the HUTCH. I am now planning to approach Consumers Disputes Redressal Forum through a consumer organization. Other affected subscribers can also do so.
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