Mobile users complain to the National Consumer Helpline

Most Indian mobile subscribers have faced issues related to network activation or deactivation, billing etc. There have been a lot of cases where problems are not resolved by the operator, and this in turn forces subscribers to register their complaints with the National Consumer Helpline (NCH).
Lately, there has been a major surge in the number of telecom related complaints that are registered with the NCH on a regular basis. This is clearly evident from a statement issued by it, which says that out of 5,413 complaints recorded by NCH during November, 15.27 per cent pertain to the telecom sector.
Major problems being reported by callers include excess billing and overcharging, network problems, call drops, non-refund of security deposits and delay in resolving problems.
NCH currently has an online redressal system with MTNL, Idea Cellular, Tata Teleservices, Airtel, Spice, VSNL and Aircel. Complaints are forwarded to these companies on a regular basis, and they respond to complainants.
Most telecom operators in India currently follow a three tier process for resolving customer complaints – customer care, nodal officers and appellate authority.
The customer care department promises to revert on complaints related to activation and deactivation within one to three working days. For complaints pertaining to billing and refunds, it takes 28 days, and for security refunds, it takes about 60 days.
Nodal officers are to be contacted when customer care fails to resolve the problem. They usually acknowledge the query within three days of receiving complaints and respond to complaints within ten days of having registered them.
Reaching the appellate authority is the third step that one can take if the nodal officer is unable to give a satisfactory response. The authority acknowledges the complaint within three days of reporting the issue. It takes a decision on appeal within three months from the date of filing.