----------------------------------------------------------------------- Documented by Goa Desc Documentation Service & circulated by Goa Civic & Consumer Action Network (GOA CAN)<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Ph:2252660 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Colvale phone subscribers upset over spurt in rentals ---------------------------------------------------------------------- The sudden spurt in phone rentals for the month of May has caught many telephone subscribers unawares, while others are confused over the department's classification of stations into urban and rural areas. The Colvale telephone subscribers, in Bardez, have expressed surprise and dismay over the 'huge increase' in monthly rentals for the month of May.
In an appeal to the Sub-Divisional Engineer, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited, Mapusa, the subscribers have stated that Colvale exchange was classified as a rural area all these years."Accordingly we were paying Rs 50 as rental charges," said Nilkant Halarnkar sarpanch of Colvale village who is championing the cause of the aggrieved subscribers.
"The department has charged us Rs 250 as rental for the month of May which is very high and beyond our capacity to pay," he stated and further said that there were also allot of discrepancies in the metered calls. The subscribers have further charged the department of violating a commitment made in the tariff table sent to the subscribers on May 1, 2003 wherein the footnote read: "No change in rental. Only free calls reduced".
On classification of places into urban and rural areas the Deputy General Manager, Telecommunications, Goa, Mr K V Rao said that the department relied on census figures provided by the State government. "In fact, according to the census report provided by the State government, quite a many rural areas have been classified as urban and in some cases urban areas have been classified as rural," Mr Rao disclosed.
Reacting to the charge of his department violating the commitment on " no change in rentals", Mr Rao said that he would "look into the matter". A source in the telephone department told this correspondent that there was not much that the department could do, as it was a central government policy decision and accordingly the billing was revised from the month of May.
He further suggested that the aggrieved subscribers could appeal to the concerned legislator from their area and through the State government seek relief from the Centre.Meanwhile, the Colvale subscribers in their petition have requested the authorities to act positively, and correct the error in the billing as early as possible.
In the event of unsatisfactory answer they have threatened to demonstrate
before the sub-divisional office and further to surrender their telephone connections.
Meanwhile subscribers in and around Mapusa city are facing the perennial problem of faulty lines and dead phones with the arrival of the monsoon season. Subscribers speaking to this correspondent mostly complained of faults in the phone lines or phones going "dead" which shoot up during the season.
Only last week the whole of Aldona exchange was under a siege for at least a day as the phones in the area went "dead" on account of water entering the lines, subscribers speaking to this correspondent said.
To cap the miseries of the subscribers the department's computerised fault repair service "198" has been malfunctioning for quite some time now, a subscriber revealed. ------------------------------------ HERALD 23/7/03 page 3 ------------------------------------- ======================================= GOA DESC RESOURCE CENTRE Documentation + Education + Solidarity 11 Liberty Apts., Feira Alta, Mapusa, Goa 403 507 Tel: 2252660 mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] website: www.goadesc.org ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Working On Issues Of Development & Democracy =======================================
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