Malda BSNL cell phone users in a fix

Statesman News Service

MALDA, July 5: The problem of erratic account balances has become a major headache for BSNL cell phone users here. Some BSNL prepaid mobile users were flabbergasted when they received a “minus balance” report on their cell phones today.Mr Phani Bhushan Ray, a BSNL service subscriber, received a message on his cell phone last night that his current account was running a deficit of Rs 5,000 INR. Mr Ray’s cell phone, which is GPRS-enabled, received the automatic service message last night. Mr Ray contacted the BSNL customer service and filed a complaint this morning. It was learnt that Mr Ray and others pressurised the BSNL officials to restore their original account balance. Around mid-day today, the BSNL service providers restored Mr Ray’s original balance which was over Rs 1,000. Another BSNL subscriber, Mr Guru Prasad Roy, has allegedly been trying to recover Rs 700 from BSNL since 3 May this year. It was learnt that his cell phone’s auto service shows a deficit of Rs 700 in his account. Mr Roy had reported the matter to the BSNL authorities on 1 June 2006, but no response was allegedly received from their side. My Roy claimed that he too lost money due to BNSL’s erratic accounting system for prepaid cell phone subscribers. Mr Niladri Chakraborty, a BSNL official of Malda, said that erratic account balances were common among customers. BSNL would seriously look into the matter, he said.