July 9: Mobile phone users are burning their fingers with bargain offers on airtime specially if they have missed the cleverly concealed stipulations. A mobile phone users' association is also proposed to be set up to take up their case. Already the office of this new body has been flooded with complaints from subscribers.

The main grouse of the subscribers swayed by promises of savings on airtime is that they did not expect to be billed under additional heads like monthly rentals, MTNL charges and service taxes. ``Often subscribers end up spending more than Rs 50 for a local call,'' feels Chandra Shekar, a city lawyer who is one of the brains behind the proposed association. ``There should be some government regulation on the schemes offered by the mobile phone companies,'' feels Shekar.

According to him the practice of asking subscribers to pay in advance for a handset and airtime would cause them inconvenience especially if they are unable to utilise the airtime within the specified period. However, mobile companies insist that it is only due to such offers they are able to provide services at rates cheaper than those prescribed by DoT.

According to Max Touch, such offers reduce entrance costs to new subscribers. ``The scheme has been designed in such a way that people can avail of cellular phones at prices ranging from Rs 0 to Rs 5000 depending on the model of handset chosen,'' the company said in reply to a questionnaire. It also maintained that only a minuscule number of subscribers are unable to utilise their full quota of airtime.

Similarly, BPL Mobile says it recovers the cost of the instrument offered under the free handset scheme from the airtime used by the customer. According to a spokesperson, BPL Mobile has designed Value Tarrif Plans to suit the varying usage requirements of its subscribers.

Contrary to the view of subscribers, both companies say the handsets available under their `0 cost handset' schemes are insured. While BPL Mobile gets handsets insured free of cost for the first year, it assists subscribers in insuring with the insurance company for the subsequent years, according to the company. However, a subscriber has to follow some conditions set by the insurance companies.

``A subscriber who loses a handset due to his or negligence is not eligible to get his handset replaced,'' says the Max Touch spokesperson.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.