Airtel resorts to Pure Arm Twisting

Airtel resorts to Pure Arm Twisting

1. I have a Domain Name – lexushr.com through Airtel which was renewed by them upto 25 Jun 2008. Lexus HR is my Company’s name and all the E-Mails to and fro in respect of my Coy are from this account. It further has the facility of 6 Mail IDs through which my Coy’s Staff corresponds with my Clients in India and Abroad i.e. to say that all Business Transactions are from these Mail Accounts and in case they are disturbed / terminated, the Business would collapse.

2. On 12 Jan 2008 at 16.38 hrs, I got a Call from one of the reps of Airtel from Tele No 0120- 4367637 in response to my Complaint No Complaint No 311452. The problem which I was facing was explained to him, in that, he was informed that all the mails being sent to the Mail Boxes pertaining to Lexus HR Account were not being received by the various Mail Boxes to which they were addressed. Mails to the tune of approx 25 % were getting lost.

3. Instead of sorting out my problem, he had the audacity to convey to me that my Lexushr.com would be discontinued and he would advise the Airtel’s ORs Team accordingly.
4. I brought the following to his attention.

(a) No prior information regarding Termination of such Accounts had ever been received by me.

(b) I had got a mail from Airtel (mailservices@airtelbroadband.in ) on 17 May 2007 asking me to renew my lexushr.com account

© The undersigned has given a confirmation on 17 May 2007 itself to Airtel that the Account be renewed.

(d) The same day, I received a Mail from Ms Garima of Airtel (Garima.Sharma@airtel.in ) that the Account was being renewed.

(e) Confirmation received from Airtel ( mailservices@airtelbroadband.in) on 12 Jun 2007 that the Account has been renewed upto 25 Jun 2008.

5. It is very evident from above that my account has been renewed upto 25 Jun 2008 and it has duly paid for in advance. Despite the above mentioned facts, I was informed by the rep that as per the Company Policy, all such like accounts would be terminated by Airtel irrespective of the Balance Duration.

6. A mail was sent by me to the concerned Airtel authorities not to terminate this Account since it was valid till 25 Jun 2008 and is was not possible for me to open another Account with the same name till 25 Jun 2008.

7. They were also informed that any action to discontinue this Account prematurely would imply the following -

It would be a Unilateral Action on the part of Airtel without any valid reason or provocation and against all principles of Natural Justice.

No notice has since been given to the Consumer.

It amounted to an Unfair Trade Practice and Willful Harassment of an unsuspecting Customer.

My rights as a Consumer would be violated by Airtel.

It would affect my Business most adversely financially and Goodwill wise for which only Airtel would be to blame and will have to compensate me suitably.

It will never be able to with- stand Legal Scrutiny.

6. Got a call from Airtel on 14 Jan 2008 from Ms Bhavna, Mgr Escalation ( Tele No – 0120 – 4332947).
She was also informed that apart from above, any termination of the Account would have extremely serious implications on our Business on account of the following –

(a) All the Correspondence with Clients in India and Abroad will come to Grinding Halt in case the Account is terminated resulting in Absolute Financial and Goodwill Loss.

(b) As per the rules in force, I cannot register another “lexushr.com” domain till 25 Jun 2008. Lexus HR is my Coy’s name and there is no way I can change my Coy’s name to get another Domain.

(c) How can even Airtel think of terminating the Domain name before the due date. Are they not behaving like the Lathi Wielding UP Policeman.

(d) “THE AIRTEL”, “THE BHARTI GROUP”, “THE SUNIL MITTAL’S OWN”, etc, etc, etc - Where are your ethics.

I sincerely hope that Airtel will see the reasoning and not do anything undesirable.


Sandeep Gupta.