BSNL fleeces customers with ‘hidden’ charges in bill for high-speed net installation

The aggressive campaign by BSNL assuring high-speed internet connection at Rs 2,000 has turned out to be a hoax with BSNL vendors insisting that the customers are paying the cost for installation and cable expenditure too.

An IT engineer from Karaikudi who had a harrowing experience trying to get a BSNL connection with no extra costs, claimed that vendors demanded more money to provide high speed optic fibre cable connection over and above the billing amount.

“The vendors are demanding an additional amount of more than Rs 2000 prescribed by the BSNL for providing modem. This includes Rs 1,500 as additional installation charges, which is not reflected in the bills,” the complaint read. The complainant had also reached out to the TN circle engineers of BSNL seeking clarification in the issue and found, to his shock, that the bribery was endorsed by officials. Several other BSNL customers have also shot complaints to the department headquarters and Telecom Ministry urging them not to mislead public like the private telecom players with hidden terms and conditions that apply during the time of installation.

“Now with online classes becoming the new norm, BSNL should bring in more transparency in the billing system and reduce installation charges further to help the common man,” said N Udayakumar, Madras High court advocate. When contacted, a senior BSNL official said that charges are fixed which is Rs 2000, but in case if there are no nearby provisions to give an immediate connection, vendors demand installation charges based on the requirement. “The vendors are investing in cables and demand the installation charges,” he said.