TN retailers not to sell Airtel, Aircel, Vodofone SIM cards -Governance Now

TN retailers not to sell Airtel, Aircel, Vodofone SIM cards

Retailers resent the down-sizing of the margins from seven percent to 3.3 percent on recharged amounts

PTI | July 12, 2011

Telecom retail vendors in Tamil Nadu today threatened not to sell new pre-paid SIM cards of Airtel, Aircel and Vodafone from July 13, alleging lesser commission by operators, and rising number of complaints that customers are charged for unsolicited value-added services.

"We were told that we will be getting seven per cent from the recharged amount as a commission, but today they (operators) are giving only 3.3 per cent," Tamil Nadu Cellular Retailers' Federation (TNCRF) Secretary A Namashivayam said.

A representative of one of the leading operators said the all-India average commission on recharges is 2.7 per cent. In Tamil Nadu and Kerala, it is however, 3.8 per cent.

Namashivayam further alleged that "everyday, we get at least 20 complaints in the city alone saying the mobile operators have charged for a service, which they did not ask for. To express our unhappiness we have decided not to sell the pre-paid cards of these three operators".

About 75 per cent of the mobile customers in Tamil Nadu prefer to use mobile services of Airtel, Aircel or Vodafone, he said.

The federation members would also hold an agitation here on July 13, to mark their protest, Namashivayam said, adding that federation representatives also plan to meet Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa to brief her about their grievances. There are about 12,000 mobile retailers in city and more than 50,000 across the state, he said.

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