ragha_shenoy

I am attaching a report by TOI on RIC's malpractices. I would like to ask everyone on this forum.Is this what we want from Reliance? VADODARA/RAJKOT: The Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) has unearthed a malpractice in which Reliance Infocom Limited (RIL) was found to be converting international calls into STD, eventually paying less inter-connect usage (IUC) charges to BSNL. BSNL chief general manager, Gujarat, A K Bhandari told TNN, “RIL was re-routing its international calls through the national trunk group. Notices were issued to RIL to which it has responded. Investigations in other districts of Gujarat including Surat, Valsad, Rajkot and Vadodara had brought to light such cases.” While the Ahmedabad Telecom District alone claimed penalty of almost Rs 1 crore, the Vadodara circle has sent notices of about Rs 2.25 crore. BSNL general manager at Rajkot, A L Patel, while admitting to a loss of around 20 crore, said, “A four-member team had been asked to inquire into the case.” He, however, refused to give out the name of the members. “First, records for the last three months will be verified followed by records in the last one-and-a-half year. Not just RIL, but BSNL Rajkot would look into the calls made by the other operators also,” he said. Joint deputy director general, BSNL, Mahipal Singh, has asked all chief general managers to monitor the entire incoming traffic from all private operators. The malpractice came to light after a BSNL user in Ahmedabad complained that though he was receiving calls from US and Canada, the common line identification (CLI) number being flashed on his mobile was either from Mumbai or Chennai. The user also specified that his relatives in the US were using RIL’s prepaid card. The Sanchar Nigam Executive Association (SNEA) found that the CLI was being manipulated to route the international calls so that the interconnect usage charges (IUC) to BSNL were lesser. Authorities at BSNL headquarters, Ahmedabad, had then issued a notice of penalty to RIL, warning disconnection, on September 13, 2004. RIL was asked to respond within a given time, which it did not, and BSNL disconnected them on September 22. Later, RIL wrote to the Department of Telecommunication (DOT), assuring payment of the due amount, following which the point of interconnect was restarted. Said circle secretary of SNEA, Gujarat, B G Patel, “While the proposed penalty for major districts has been fixed between Rs 50 lakh and 1.25 crore, an amount between Rs 20 lakh and Rs 50 lakh has been proposed for minor districts.” A letter from RIL, signed by Dr A Shankar, to the secretary of Department of Telecommunications (DOT), New Delhi, states that RIL is keeping transparent records of all calls and the same can be verified with the call records of BSNL. Hence there would be no problem in arriving at the stipulated amount to be paid to BSNL.