A PORTING EXPERIENCE – HAPPY TO HELP!

After many years' relationship with Cellone, it was decided that both my spouse and I would shift to Vodafone due to poor connectivity and services of the provider. The mobile number porting facility was a boon to be used and was done. The agile agent from Vodafone arrived at my residence with prior appointment. Documents necessary to facilitate porting were arranged and after our signatures, the agent left. Within 24 hours, the shifting from Cellone to Vodafone was affected and effected.

The network was excellent with a few hiccups at times but overall, the experience was too good except that the monthly bills kept on rocketing. After 120 days into the beautiful experience that was slowly burning a hole into my pocket, both of us decided that we go back to Cellone as our requirements were limited usage of mobile phone.

Process of initiation began with an SMS to the porting server. Upon calling up BSNL Customer Care, it was announced that both of us had to visit our nearest Customer Care Centre of BSNL and carry out the necessary formalities.

So on an auspicious day, armed with all documents necessary to establish identity, we landed at the nearest Customer Care Centre of BSNL. With great difficulty in searching a bundle containing FORMs, finally two forms were handed over to us for facilitating this porting of service provider by the staff who sat few metres away from the actual counter where the actual porting was to be effected. We duly filled up the designated form and upon handing it over at the counter, we were again given a form to be filled up that contained a lengthy list of parameters; some of that redundant to the information already provided in the porting application form.

We meekly followed as directed by the personnel manning the counter. It was after almost 90 minutes' that we finally came out of the Customer Care Centre of BSNL hoping for the best. But then, 24 hours after completion of the formalities, the SIM was not activated!

It was a learning experience that I thought of sharing.

• BSNL can appoint agents who can give this service at the doorsteps of the willing customers
• The porting formalities may be made simpler by reducing the filling up of FORMS with information that are redundant
• In this age of information technology, customer's data may be fetched from servers where they are stored/available. For example, if a customer provides Aadhar information, his details may be fetched from the UIDAI server and the like. This will entail fewer errors and save the service provider from entering all data over and over again. Customer's data can be fetched from the existing service provider too
• Services closer to home is the need of the day.

This will perhaps make the existing process much simpler and faster.

Hoping for a simpler port out process, VODAFONE made life difficult. The current service provider rejected the PORT OUT request stating that the subscriber had DUES!
It was contested that dues will always be there as the subscription was a POST PAID one where the usage of previous month was billed in the current month. An email was shot off to TRAI for their knowledge how problematic it was for me to PORT OUT of VODAFONE and PORT IN to BSNL.

Finally, I went to the nearest VODAFONE store. Asked about my dues and cleared by paying in cash. But then, VODAFONE would not let me go! They sent a bill of Rs. 853.93

Had to clear all dues finally being ported out of VODAFONE! Phew!!