Thread: late Payment Charges

I have been using Airtel Unlimted since the past 15 months & am quite satisfied with their Uptime.

The issue with them is that they shall not hesitate to fleece you given half a chance & there are many sob stories going around for that. The latest being:
Since July-Aug 2007 i have been getting late payment charges added to my bill even though I have never ever paid any bill after the Due date.

I always pay by Cheque; Airtel does not acknowledge on your counterfoil the date of depositing the Cheque (unlike MTNL), unless you go thru some of their 3rd party collection Vendors, who generally never accept the bill in one go (at least in our area, NFC-Delhi)
As a result i have no proof that I have deposited the cheque before the Due date.

NOW, the "catch": In Aug-Sept. Airtel introduced a new scheme of E-payment wherein they debit the Bill amount directly from your bank account every month !! Knowing abt. their Financial notoriety, I would not dream of that; as a result, I have been getting the late payment charges added to my bill every month, which evenetually get debited after complaining to them & threatening them that I shall surrender the connection (I have already surrendered 02 Airtel landline connections last year)

Is there anybody else out there who has been "gently" arm twisted by India's most "admired" Company to subscribe to their latest E-payment scheme?

Thank god, never experinced any such thing till now with them :-)

I should consider my self lucky they, been a satisifed customer for about 2 years now.

Well i was not aware of there this E-payment scheme. But i think i would love to go to their showroom and then pay my bill there which is a better and secure way to make a payment.

First of all, if you are having Airtel's unlimited plan, then you really have nothing to be worried about "extra" charges. Secondly, e-payment thru ECS is usually done on the last due date of payment. If you receive the bill on 25th and the due date is 10th (next month) then amount gets debited from bank on 10th. So theoratically, you have those 15 days to dispute the bill.

But if you are not comfortable with ECS then do not go for it.

As to your root problem, what are the other options for bill payment other than cheque and ECS? Note that you can take up the case with TRAI and consumer courts (yes i know that this is a hassle and involves your precious time).

Well from my point if you have the qualit to manage things perfectly then go with this E-Payment system otherwise if you keep low amounts and have to pay for other things too then dont go with it otherwise it is really a great way to pay.

I would not like to take this E-Pay facility. I would love to walk down to their shop and pay my bill there as on a particular day of every month i pay my bills and i think paying one more bill would not make any difference.

I have their e-Payment facility and i would say that it is really a good payment option to go with as i dont hahve to worry about my payment at all.

Yea Korupt. I too heard about e-payment facility. But, I'm yet to stick to it. Moreover, I didn't face any such billing issues yet

I had also been paying late payment charges for a long time. I was also thinking of using there this e-payment facility atleast i won't have to pay extra charges every month.

I pay my Connection bill on the same day when i get my phone bill as this ensures that there is no delay in bill payment..

i also recently opted for there e-payment service. Lets see how this one would work.. as this would be my first payment from it..