Thread: Letter to TRAI and DOT about unfair "Airtel Fair Usage Policy".

My letter to TRAI and DOT about unfair "Airtel Fair Usage Policy".

I request other broadband users to email the TRAI and DOT about unfair "Airtel Fair Usage Policy". Let us come together through this forum and fight this unfair policy. Irrespective of the end result we all should write to the necessary authorities about such unfiar policies and voice our protest.

This call is not just for Airtel users but to all internet users becasue if this AFUP is allowed then every ISP in India will follow suit and wreck broadband in India.

I also request other users to post their response/email here in this forum

Dont forget to mention your name, address and phone as anonymous emails will not be considered.

Dear Sir,

I would like to congratulate TRAI on its efforts to publish this Consultation paper on Broadband QoS - "Bandwidth required for ISPs for better connectivity and improved quality of service". I really admire TRAI for its initiative, forethought and the enduring work for a better quality of telecom service in India despite apathy from several quarters including the government.

With this letter I would like to bring to your notice a controversial and unfair
decision of Airtel Broadband with subject to "Airtel Fair Usage Policy".
Airtel Fair Usage policy has become the latest nightmare for the customers of
Airtel Broadband.

"Airtel Fair Usage Policy" or AFUP is totally unfair on customers with Unlimited
broadband plans as Airtel has decided to cap all unlimited plans starting from 15GB for 256kbps and reducing the speed to 128kbps for further downloads. Unlimited plans cannot and should not have restrictions on either the promised speed or unlimited data.

As per information/emails received by customers from Airtel, the limit on unlimited plans are as follows:

128 kbps = 10 GB data limit per month - after that speed reduced to 64kbps
256 kbps = 15 GB data limit per month - after that speed reduced to 128kbps
384 kbps = 20 GB data limit per month - after that speed reduced to 192kbps
512 kbps = 25 GB data limit per month - after that speed reduced to 256kbps
1 Mbps = 50 GB data limit per month - after that speed reduced to 512kbps

Airtel users have confirmed that their speeds have been reduced to half of what their package promises.

Once the unlimited broadband data is capped, it ceases to be an Unlimited plan. When the speed is reduced to less than the minimum 256kbps it ceases to be a TRAI defined broadband connection. Airtel in fact is violating the very
TRAI definition of broadband connection in India and this will be a very serious lapse by Airtel.

Airtel had merely suggested AFUP in its response to TRAI's consultation paper on "Bandwidth required for ISPs for better connectivity and improved quality of service". But now Airtel has gone ahead and implemented AFUP. This means that Airtel is enforcing data transfer limits on their supposedly unlimited plans without the consent of TRAI or its own customers. Does this not amount to cheating or fraud on its customers and in direct violation of TRAI's guidelines on broadband?

We have always believed Airtel to be different from other ISPs in India.They have always charged a premium and continue to do so for unlimited plans. Initially everything felt just right with Airtel Broadband. But things are apparently changing for the worse. Only TRAI can protect consumer interests from the wrath of such mind numbing decisions that put barriers in nascent growth of broadband in India.

Lots of Airtel's users have posted their grievances in various forums and blogs.

You can see story unfolding here :-


I sincerely request you to consider this letter as a complaint against unjust Airtel Fair Usage Policy and/or any other ISP in India which indulges in putting barriers in broadband speed/data caps and thus hindering the growth of broadband in India.

I would like TRAI to investigate the reasons behind implementation of such a policy by Airtel that hinders growth and that is contrary to TRAI's guidelines.

I look forward to the speedy resolution of this problem and I sincerely hope that you will do the needful and ensure the interests of telecom consumers in India are safeguarded.

regards

Code:

Sudhir Gupta, Advisor (MN),
Telecom Regulatory Authority of India,
Mahanagar Doorsanchar Bhawan,
Jawahar Lal Nehru Marg, New Delhi-110 002.
Tel. No.011-23220018, Fax No.011-23212014
E-mail : sudhirgupta at trai.gov.in
Authorized to Issue: Advisor (MN)

Shri M.C. Chaube, Advisor (QoS) Ph: 
011- 23230404, Fax No 011-23213036 Email: advqos at trai.gov.in  

Sh.  S. K. Gupta,  Advisor  (CN), 
Tel.No.+91-11-23217914,  Fax:  +91-11-23211998  or  email  at 
advcn at trai.gov.in or cn at trai.gov.in. 

DOT
GRIEVANCE   REGISTRATION   FORM   
http://grievance.nic.in/Netizen/arpgn.asp?wci=grievance&wcu

Done. United we stand, divided we fall !!

thanks a lot.. maybe they can do something about it.

Done... Complained to DOT and TRAI ...Wish they do something to the airtel retards

Done

Can I copy the above data (with my contact details) and email from my side or i need to use my own matter.

OK SENT THE MAIL TODAY

good initiative ... reps for you ... i will send a mail to them in a couple of days ... i have already expressed my concerns about this on a few posts on this forum ...

Originally Posted by pisces_m

Can I copy the above data (with my contact details) and email from my side or i need to use my own matter.

Yes i had emailed them like that. Copy-pasted the quoted content and fixed my details towards the end.

Originally Posted by cool_techie_tvm

Yes i had emailed them like that. Copy-pasted the quoted content and fixed my details towards the end.

ok.. will the same content in mail from many users serve the purpose!! wouldnt it seem like spamming to them ... thats why i thought i will send a mail with different content a few days later ...

That is why the thread starter had posted to mention name, address and contact details in the email. Else they would be considered spam.

some relief for delhi if true, http://sushubh.net/3347-airtel-delhi-ncr

yup i see it here too.. Airtel Fair Usage Policy is not applicable in Delhi YET

Wow Airtel has started blocking VOIP services too in some parts of India...

Thats the Trial...i think airtel buddies will now think twice, before taking such irritant steps...:x

yea.. heard that.. pretty horrible decisions made by them recently!!

You mean VOIP things like - Skype??

I dont think they can block Skype. Maybe services like Vonage are blocked..

if google/ms were to start VOIP it would be fun..

I checked this morning, Skype is fine.
If they remove Skype, then I will disconnect the service. I use Skype extensively for calling US toll free conference call numbers.

Yahoo VOIP is working fine but i think Airtel is doing something. Because from last 2-3 days i am able to connect only after 2-3 attempts to the mobile caller in US. Hope they dont block Yahoo or Airtel is gone.

Anyone using VOIP services like Vonage? Please verify whether it is working for u or not.

services like skype should work , i gues vonage may not!!

I have lodged a complaint to the DOT from the grievance.nic.in site and also emailed to the TRAI id's listed before.
What more can we do on this?
Any idea about lodging complaint in the Consumer Forums?

The Action Status Details for the complaint lodged with DOT shows this now:

Received by : Department of Telecommunications
Forwarded To : M/s.Bharti Airtel Ltd.
Address : Narendra Gupta
: Director Legal & RA
: Unitech World Cyber Floor,
: Tower-A,4th Floor, Sector-39
: Gurgaon, Haryana
: narender.gupta@airtel.in
Date of Action : 19/02/2009

I had emailed them. But PGRAMS -:- Grievance Registration Form is giving me Invalid Characters (" " " " " " = = = = = " " ?) appearing in Subject Content

Just remove any special characters like " or = appearing anywhere in the address fields and complaint body.
I also had the same issue.

Thanks. Had to do some editing in the content.

My reference no DOTEL/E/2009/00611