He asked the customers to contact Vigilance officer A M Baokar on 547878 (office) or 639944 (residence) in case they were asked to pay money and harassed by the staff, in terms of delay in attending to complaints or provisioning telephones.

Stating that linemen were not the key to a telephone's working, Kataria said that it was people's prime right to have a functional telephone. Complaints could be booked on 198 for faulty telephones, he said, promising that it would not go unattended.

The department disposes of about 69 per cent faults by the following day; 98 per cent within three days, he claimed, adding only a few cases took more than seven days due to `special reasons or circumstances'. ``Even these cases are continuously monitored not only at a level of JTO/AE but right up to DGM and GM,'' Kataria said.

Referring to attacks on the field staff, the GM said that they were demoralising. He exhorted the aggrieved to meet DE or DGM during visiting hours from 3 pm to 4 pm on working days. Even the GM may be approached on Mondays between 3 pm and 5 pm and on Wednesdays between 11 am and 1 pm.