This is arguably the most important judgement in recent times. Ankur Raheja has won a case in the consumer court against Sify Broadband on grounds of deficiency in service.
The case judgement was delivered on 18th October. Unfortunately, due to various commitments I could not highlight this earlier. I would like to quote diectly from the write up on the mother channel of this blog.
Sify Broadband to pay for unfair trade practises.
The case related to non disclosure of significant terms and conditions, which included hidden conditions that after downloading of 750 MB data in a month the speed would be reduced to 14 Kbps and also a new condition that if a customer downloaded more than 150 MB data in a day, then he was penalized in the form of reduction of package validity by one day, but still packages were advertised as unlimited.
It has been regarded as a landmark judgment as for the first time technical deficiency has been proved in the court of law in India against an Internet Company. And further Court interpreted the matter from the point of view of definition of Broadband as laid down by TRAI, which lays down criterion of minimum speed of 256 Kbps to be regarded as Broadband. Accordingly, Court has held providing of 14 Kbps speed instead of 256 Kbps is in itself a ‘deficiency in service’.
The case was supported in the Cyber World by hundreds of SIFY customers from all over India, who all experienced similar problems and supported the case throughout, whose testimonials were also included in the original complaint as Annexure!
The last para assumes significance. We rallied together and challanged BSNL to introduce unlimited plans. Even though it is a watered down offering, still it was a victory of all sorts for us to fight the ISP’s and demand what we want and not what they want to give.
Unfortunately, public activism is limited to Medha Patkars of the world who otherwise have their own hidden agendas to propagate. If we all take it lying down, they would F*** us royally like they all have been doing for so many years.
Another quote from Ankur’s post on the broadband forum:
“It has been held that concealing hidden conditions and not redressing the grievances of the complainant who made complaints with regard to poor customer service on number of occassions, in our considered opinion, amounts to deficiency in service on the part of Opposite Party and indulging in to Unfair Trade Practice.
We, therefore, direct the opposite party to refund the amount of Rs 1,200/-, paid for two months by the complainant along with compensation to the tune of Rs 5,000/- for causing mental agony and harassment to the complainant and further, pay a sum of Rs 2,000/- towards cost of litigation to the complainant.”
More details at Sify Case dot org.
I want to know as to how to kick BSNL’s ass. TRAI is ineffectual in enforcing it’s own guidelines and till recently they were operating from an illegal building. The Government violating it’s own rules! For the time being, this judgement can be quoted aross the nation and Sify “broadband” has a potential disaster brewing up for them. I am forwarding the details of the judgement to news organisations and I hope this gains widespread publicity. Either Sify Broadband renegotiate it’s contract with it’s subscribers or refund the money taken from them by fraudulent means. This is cheating. Plain cheating.
Oh, by the way, I forgot to mention that in the recent Blog Camp in Madras, the WiFi connectivity was provided by Sify “Broadband”. Basically it was a legion of idiots milling around trying to make themselves important. Interestingly, no one mentioned about the company sponsoring their internet connection about being the target of what arguably was the first blog specifically targetting a company and it’s ill doings. It was borne out of frustration from the pathetic access speeds and their high handedness.
Screw them anyway.
Guys, it’s time to kick their assess.
Kick TRAI’s ass,thats the best thing to do…
They are pathetic and irresponsible for a ‘IT superpower’ country.
It’s hightime we start demanding what we really deserve as a broadband customer. Being one of the BSNL customers personally I know pain in dealing with these babus. As far as my case is concerned, these bastards are demanding an explanation for my high usage (23GB/mo) of my UL900 account. This is a landmark judgement for all of us to fight with these bastards.
Iam a broadband customer of Sify in noida.when it comes to customer service SIFY is worst of all.
S-Stupid
I-Idiotic
F-Frustrating
Y-(through out)Year internet service
I raised a case regarding my renewal problem and it took 5 days to launch my issue and still no sign of renewing my account.i talked to more than 8 customer care executives and 5 executives took my userd id and pin number of renewal card and did not turn up….
i provide here the resolution history of the customer care on their site.still on march 4th it is assigned and pending
Case Id 4828000
Priority Level 6
Logged Date & Time 2007-02-27 20:19:38
Service Type CC BROADBAND CTO
Query ACCOUNT RENEWAL – IWAY
Status ASSIGNED
Case is being attended by
Engineer / Team CC_BBMAA
Email Address cc_bbmaa@sifycorp.com
Resolution Action History:
> chitra_r (2007-02-28 13:55:02 ) says-> INPROGRESS prem_p (2007-02-28 18:22:18 ) says-> cus called for the same issue… kindly do the needful…
b230sec19sf (2007-03-01 15:02:22 ) says->How many days does a CMM Level 5 company takes to solve the customer queries??
can you please justify why this delay is happening in renewal of my account.If the problem is from your end,why not a temporary service of internet is not provided to me.
mary_orline (2007-03-01 15:11:38 ) says-> cust mr.kiran// called for the same issue…plz rectify it as soon as possible…plz call him..
b230sec19sf (2007-03-02 15:42:30 ) says->wt happened to my renewal …when u r goin to solve this …..a life time??
ummar_mukthar (2007-03-02 15:50:33 ) says->the customer call for the same , pls do the needful asap…..
regards,
a frustrated sify broadband customer
hi ppl…..
i am a customer of sify broadband in bangalore.
Sify service is the worst part.
i am facing the error BB101 from 12-04-07 and even now the problem is not resolved.
I know the exact problem,, our local cabel operator is switching of his server because of lightening, and says his device will get damaged.. It is really a crap.
He cant do anything for this.
I am complaining this problem to the customer care daily and spoken to notless than 12 customer care executive and all of them have registered complaint, but there is no response from there side.
They will only come for the RENEWAL of account.
they are only thinking of making money and not providing the good service.
I OPENLY SAY THAT SIFY IS A BIG FRAUD AND A CARELESS COMPANY,,, AND THE CABLE TV OPERATORS ARE BASTARDS…
can anyone guide me how to get rid of this hectic.
reqards,
a frustrated sify broadband customer,,,,
Truly Sify really sucks.
As far as the non disclosure of complete information, here’s one that I got today. I subscribed to the ‘Unlimited 256 Kbps’ option. The download speeds I’ve been getting for some time now is a ridiculous 7 to 10 KBps.This when I’m using a download accelerator !.
I filed a complaint with Customer care yesterday evening. I was told the problem would be solved by morning. Not surprisingly, nothing happened. Fed up, I finally called the local cable people and protested.
This is what they said “the 256 KBps unlimited does not guarantee the said speed. If you want speed buy a different package.” When I questioned them as to why this is not mentioned with the details of the 256 KBps Unlimited package, pat came the reply:
“You ask sify about this. This is what we have been telling everybody. We are not responsible for this”
Hi,
I too am a frustrated sify customer in bangalore…
The customer siervice is F***ing…
I got a contact from the sify office,
Mr. Bhaskar,
Head – Customer Service,
Ph: 09940661180
I did’t get my net for 7 days from Apr 28 to May 4…
There was no one to respond to the call…
Every executive would say a different answer…
Finally I called up the above guy n I did get realistic answers after that…
Regarding connectivity:
I took a 128 KBPS (Dedicated: Thats what they said)conncetion…
But i get 10-14 KBPS…
Those ass holes dont have a toll free number that works…
At customer care they say its operational, but when i asked the head CS, he said that its not yet operational…
The employees dont know what is their company doing…
This is freaking nuts…
I call them up, I can hear laughing and gigling in the fucking office, yet no one is picking the phone; then some one puts a recorded message saying that they’ll call me back in 1 hour, and nobody calls…
They dont even have the courtesy to inform you once the complaint is attended…
I really wanna exit this screwed up fucking deal; but they dont give refund…
They just want to make money, why not better go n steal…
Hi
I am another one of those frustrated SIFY Customers. My SIFY account got renewed on 12th June, and had asked for a technical guy to be sent to my place for the installation and all. Its already been more than a week and there is no sign of the technician. When i call up Bangalore office they say its not our problem , its ur problem , contact customer care if you want the problem to be rectified. Customer care never works in their case, each and every executive either says that the problem would get rectified or hang up the phone. I had also talked to a supervisor and had told her give me my refund or send someone immediately, she said we are sending someone and even she has dissappeared. I am amazed that even Private companies can provide such pathetic service. Can anyone provide me idea as to how i should deal with this problem?
Hi,
Is there anybody in Mumbai to join me to file a case against sify. Please join me.
Here is the problem I faced.
————————————————–
I renewed my account on 19th November 2007. I used it on 20th night. on 21st morning when I tried to connect, it said ” Unable to connect to gateway”. So as I was quite hurry to move to office, I disconnected the cable and kept my laptop in locker and went to office. That day (21st Nov) after coming back from office, I used the net. But when I tried to connect on 22nd Nov(Just 3days after renew) morning, it said your account has been expired.
Shocked by this I referred my session details, it shows that I’ve used the net on 21st morning 8:00AM to afternoon 3:45PM and in that period my usage is 903MB. So the account got expired (As there is 150MB limit on which 1day will be deducted for every extra 25MB).
I’ve called customer care, mailed them stating my problem, they are just dumb. and still arguing that I’ve used net and downloaded 903MB. How can I fight back and teach them a lesson. As you’ve already won the case, you are the hope for us. Please help me.
Thanks & Regards,
pnrkumar
I’m done with these damn Sify guys..
I’m from Thavarkere, Bangalore.
My nightmare began when I applied for Sify connection. In no time one guy popped up and took the money after registration. It’s almost a month now, and almost everyday I spend 10-20 Rs. calling them. But even the cable-laying guy don’t show up, let alone get the login ID..
If not for that money paid, I would spit on their face…
It’s such a mental torture.. affecting even our everyday life..
I bought SifyTalk for Rs.200 which is valued for Rs.400 as per scheme. I can call ISD calls particularly Japan for Rs.2 for 1 minute as per Sify charges (http://sifytalk.com/voip/rates.html).So, Iam eligible to speak for 200 minutes. But I spoke to Japan for 40 minutes and my Balance showed as exhausted. Instead of Rs.2 per minute they charged Rs.10 per minute. Subsequently I made complaint they through telephone and email on 13th of February. They emailed that it was there technical fault and they told it will be rectify and they will let me know. As I need to talk on enquiry to customer support department assured me that there would be no problem for second time but subsequently they cautioned me not to use the service as same problem will arise but I had already purchased another new card.
The whole ting shows the clear violation and conditions. There response to my mails and phone was irresponsible. So, I advice those who plan to use SifTalk service don’t purchase the card unless there technical faults are rectified.
If my problem is solved upto now as on 02-03-08 I will post again.