Mangalore: NRIs, Beware of Airtel SIM Cards!
By Kumar Fernandes (With Inputs from Deepak Machado)
Mangalore, Jun 5: I feel ecstatic whenever I go back to India from Dubai on vacations. This time was no different. On May 22 I boarded Air India Express flight to Mangalore from Dubai.
How happy was I when the aircraft touched down the runway. And as a practice I started switching my mobile SIM card (which had in excess of Rs 500 balance at the moment) subscribed from Airtel in the year 2005 when I exited the aircraft. I tried making a call and Lo...the handset gave an error message which read “SIM register invalid.”
Just thinking that there might be something wrong with my SIM card, I replaced it with my wife’s SIM card. I got the same message on that SIM card too. With great difficulty, with the help of an airport porter’s mobile I got in touch with my friend who came to pick me up.
On reaching home, I called Airtel helpline number. And as usual helplines are more of a ‘pain’ than any help. The numbers are always busy. I got in touch with computer voice after approximately 35 minutes. I narrated the whole episode to an agent after waiting for one–and-a-half-hours! He asked me to be on line and put on hold, made me to wait 10 more minutes and came back with the answer, “Sir you were not using mobile for more than six months, that is the reason your number (SIM) was blocked and number put on recycle.” My immediate response was “No. The last time I used this SIM was in March 2012”. At that instance, he changed the unused duration from 6 months to 3 months. My next question to him was purely mathematical! I asked him to calculate the days between March 17 to May 23 which were less than 90 days. May be he realized his statement was wrong and asked me to go to nearest Airtel office to sort out the matter and without waiting for my response, disconnected the line. How ridiculous is that?
As cell phone is a part of my daily life, I got anxious because the airline by which I was to return to Dubai had the same SIM number recorded as contact number(in case of change of flight schedule to get the information from airline). Without wasting time, I went to the Airtel office from where I had purchased the SIM in Udupi.
The man at the help-desk heard my story, and made me wait 30 minutes, and easily told me, “Sir you have not used your mobile for more than 30 days.”
30 days?! I was angry and anxious.
Note that the non-usage period reduced from 180 days to 30 days.
I asked him, "Why did you not make aware of this issue by publishing in leading newspapers in India as well as in Gulf states as recharge can be done from overseas and you have a partnership with UAE Etisalat?"
He replied, "Yes, we did it!" While asking for the proof that it was published, he was a bit aggressive and told me that it is ‘confidential.’ On hearing his response, I realized that this man was unfit for his job. He himself told me that the matter was made known to public, and now he was telling me it was confidential! Come on.
Anyhow, I was in a hurry to get the same number back as it was registered in India for all my dealings with the bank, income tax, PAN card etc.
The guy easily said, "Sir your number has gone to recycle and it will be allocated to another person and if you still need the same number, come back to us after three months (once in three months numbers go for recycling) and we will let you know who owns your number and you can request him to give back the number."
I was wondering whether any service provider has the authority to disclose the confidential matter to others without consent of the owner?! This made me angry and I asked the guy what is his cell number? I told him, if I claim, the mobile number used by him is mine and ask to return it to me will he agree to do it? He didn’t reply.
Airtel is looting public money by blocking the SIM from their valued customers without proper information and moral ethics. In my case, I lost approx Rs 790 for two SIM cards. At the same time, Airtel is digging its own grave by turning its back on its customers.
The blocking of these SIM cards is just a tactic used by Airtel to reap huge profits.
When all these things happen, how can we even give our numbers to financial firms if we don’t know whether our SIM cards will be in use tomorrow? Indian mobile service provider should not forget that approx 75 percent of the Gulf employees hold Indian SIMs and their action of blocking SIM will definitely affect not only their customer but also the service providers.
Airtel, as you say 'Express Yourself', I have done my part. What do you have to say?
Editor's Note: The views expressed in this article are solely of the author. Readers are welcome to share their experiences on any issue with a detailed report to news@daijiworld.com.