1. Airtel is not a company to comply with the laws of India, especially given a weak or heavily overloaded state of our judiciary and even worse - utter disregard of public by our police. I explain as part of this answer, why I say so.
2. If connection is working fine, then good, if not then its an uphill battle to get things fixed. The issue “may” persist for many days to weeks, and they won’t care about it, although a few times it will get resolved within 1–2 days. But once the issue is fixed, for next many days you will receive calls from their customer expereince team to emphasize that they have resolved the issue though with a delay and hear back if everything is now smooth and good.
3. If you are buying a new Airtel Broadband connection, DON’T PAY unless their installation engineer attests that connection can be installed at your desired address. DON’T PAY unless it is verified, taken on record and you take photo of employee-id of both the salesman and instllation engineer.
4. And this is when I have written to following email-ids:
They hardly respond and even when they do its with a uselss scripted response. Basically the entire company from bottom to top is rotting with incompetence and corruption.
5. (Added on 13-Sept-2022:) Ever since the connection was installed, it never worked seemlessly for more than 2 weeks, and off late the frequency of issue is 2 days, i.e. the connection doesn’t work seemlessly even for straight 48 hours ! So every 2nd day I have to file a complaint about “No Signal”.
And its is specifically w.r.t. to this particular point no. 3 - a specifc very bad experience.
I am writing this answer to create awareness so that others can avoid the pain I went through.
Subsequently, I copy-paste the original email (with names and phone numbers removed), and then explain what was the legal issue with all that transpired.
For 6 days I had no idea, if I am going to ever get my money back, and will Airtel continue to harass me mentally.
Besides email, I got useless responses and assurances from Airtel’s Twitter handle (both tweet and Direct Message), and no response from delhi police’s handles.
I also registered a complaint via National Consumer Helpline 1800114000 who forward the compaint to Airtel. Time period for NCH compaints to get addressed is 45 days.
First email dated 17-May-2022
***********
I had sent to or eventually looped into:
121 AT in DOT airtel DOT com
nodal DOT ncr AT in DOT airtel DOT com
appellate DOT ncr AT airtel DOT com
gopal DOT vittal AT airtel DOT com
ombudsperson AT bharti DOT in
ceo DOT india AT airtel DOT in
ceo DOT india AT airtel DOT com
dcp DOT central AT delhipolice DOT gov DOT in
.
While the issue pesisted I got:
a) useless and reckless responses from Nodal and Appellate email-ids
b) no responses from anybody else, including police.
***********
Dear Airtel,
.
Yesterday, I was duped by your salesman Mr. Mxxxx (Emp Id xx/xxxx) for a 100 Mbps Airtel Fiber Broadband connection.
On 15-May-2022, due to consistent problems with my Airtel Copper based 40 Mbps broadband connection at my home, I decided to terminate it completely and get a fresh Fiber connection of 100 Mbps and made the request for the same via the Airtel website. The ticket was assigned to your employee Mr. Mxxxx (Ph No +91xxxxx). He called within a few minutes via number +91xxxxx and confirmed that he shall visit the place on 16-May morning between 9:00 AM to 10:00 AM. On 16-May morning, I received 3 SMS from Airtel (AD-AIRWRK SMS Header) that Mr. Mxxxx shall visit between 9:00-9:30 AM. When he did not come, I called him at 10:31 AM, he then said that he shall come b/w 11:00-1:30, when he still did not come, I called him again at 11:39 AM. He then told me to share my ID (Aadhar via WhatsApp to him) and that he shall generate a payment link and I shall pay to create the order and the ticket for lineman to install the connection.
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I told him "no", first he should come home with the installation team (lineman) to make sure everything can be done, and then I will make NEFT payment immediately for a full 12 months since there is a 15% discount on 12 months payment. I told him that in Feb 2022, I got another connection at my another place in xxxx and the entire team came together, they verified, I made the payment and they installed - the process was neat and transparent there. I requested him to do the same here, and first bring lineman with him to verify the connectivity.
.
Hence, although I shared my self-attested Aadhar (with date and purpose) to him via WhatsApp, but I did not pay at this point, and instead asked him to come home so that I can verify his identity. When he arrived home, he arrived alone i.e. without a team and said that they were not available, I took a photo of his Airtel ID and Aadhar ID. He generated the payment link which I received via SMS from Airtel with cart order xxxx. I made full payment of bill+GST i.e. Rs 9617 via NEFT (Transaction Ref No xxxxx). An Order Id xx-xxxx was generated for Xstream Fiber Id xxxxx, and again an SMS was received from Airtel (AD-AIRWRK) that your engineer Mr. Dxxxx shall visit the place around 4:00 PM for the installation.
.
Eventually around 2:30 PM, your installation engineer (Mr. MuxxxPh. No. +91xxxxx) visited home, checked the feasibility of connection in detail, and concluded that no sockets are available and thus it is not possible to install a connection for me. I then called Mr. Mxxxxx and told him what had happened. He then talked with the installation engineer, who again checked and came to the same conclusion. Therefore at 3:18 PM, I finally sent a message via WhatsApp to Mr. Mxxxxx requesting that then atleast (1) initiate my refund (2) send a lineman to repair atleast copper wire connection as my work is on hold. He replied affirmatively to the same, yet did not not do either of the two tasks he again promised.
.
Absolutely no integrity and utter disregard for customer's money and time !
.
I again asked him today morning to initiate the refund, I received calls today morning from Airtel Mr. Dxxxxx (Ph. no.: xxxxx) and then after minutes from another Mr. Dxxxx(Ph No xxxxx).
.
Too much of time has been wasted purely because of Mr. Mxxxxx, and now my money is stuck with Airtel.
Since I have been Airtel's customer for many years, I already know how painful it is to deal with you customer care executives as one has to relate the whole story again and again to every executive !
When I tweeted about my problem on Twitter, as usual, your executive responded without reading it properly and understanding at all. Airtel takes its customers very casually.
.
Anyhow, I kindly request you to please - please initiate a full refund immediately.
.
Warm Regards,
Subsequently, each day for next 6 days a new installation engineer would be assigned who would visit the address, conclude the same, but Airtel won’t refund the money.
Finally on Saturday evening, they upgraded the infrastructure in the area and installed the Fiber Connection.
Now, the breakdown of the Legal Issue:
(a)
Under section (u/s) 17 of Indian Contract Act (ICA) subsequently referred to as just Act (explicitly or implicitly), Mr. Mxxxx had committed an act of fraud.
“Fraud” defined.—“Fraud” means and includes any of the following acts committed by a party to a contract, or with his connivance, or by his agent2, with intent to deceive another party thereto of his agent, or to induce him to enter into the contract:— (1) the suggestion, as a fact, of that which is not true, by one who does not believe it to be true; (2) the active concealment of a fact by one having knowledge or belief of the fact; (3) a promise made without any intention of performing it; (4) any other act fitted to deceive; (5) any such act or omission as the law specially declares to be fraudulent.“
It would have been misrepresentation u/s 18 if I had not explicitly asked him to first verify if connection can be provided and bring installation engg with him, which I did multiple times.
“Misrepresentation” defined.—“Misrepresentation” means and includes— (1) the positive assertion, in a manner not warranted by the information of the person making it, of that which is not true, though he believes it to be true; (2) any breach of duty which, without an intent to deceive, gains an advantage to the person committing it, or any one claiming under him; by misleading another to his prejudice, or to the prejudice of any one claiming under him; (3) causing, however innocently, a party to an agreement, to make a mistake as to the substance of the thing which is the subject of the agreement.“
.
Act of fraud, invokes IPC (Indian Penal Code) 420.
.
(b) the moment Mr. Muxxx said that connection is not possible at my place because there is no free socket, the contract became void u/s 56 of the Act,
“Compensation for loss through non-performance of act known to be impossible or unlawful.— Where one person has promised to do something which he knew, or, with reasonable diligence, might have known, and which the promisee did not know, to be impossible or unlawful, such promisor must make compensation to such promisee for any loss which such promisee sustains through the non-performance of the promise.“
thereby invoking section 65 on obligation of returning the benefits i.e. restitution.
“Obligation of person who has received advantage under void agreement, or contract that becomes void.—When an agreement is discovered to be void, or when a contract becomes void, any person who has received any advantage under such agreement or contract is bound to restore it, or to make compensation for it to the person from whom he received it“
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(c) Also before payment, I had emphasized clearly many times to Mr. Mxxxx that time is of essence for me and why it is so, and why it was critical for me to have the connection on Monday (16-May) itself, which brings in section 55,
“Effect of failure to perform at fixed time, in contract in which time is essential.—When a party to a contract promises to do a certain thing at or before a specified time, or certain things at or before specified times, and fails to do any such thing at or before the specified time, the contract, or so much of it as has not been performed, becomes voidable at the option of the promisee, if the intention of the parties was that time should be of the essence of the contract.“
and thus eventually on Thursday I being an aggrieved party due to breach of contract by Airtel had explicitly terminated the (already void) contract via email.
.
(d) Furthermore, Mr. Mxxxx being an employee of Airtel was acting as an agent and made u/s 238
“Effect, on agreement, of misrepresentation of fraud, by agent.—Misrepresentation made, or frauds committed, by agents acting in the course of their business for their principals, have the same effect on agreements made by such agents as if such misrepresentations or frauds had been made or committed by the principals; but misrepresentations made, or frauds committed, by agents, in matters which do not fall within their authority, do not affect their principals“
.
and he committed a fraud which by action was implicitly ratified by Airtel (121, Nodal and Appellate - all of them) u/s 199 which transferred the complete responsibility of fraud to Airtel.
“Effect of ratifying unauthorized act forming part of a transaction.—A person ratifying any unauthorized act done on his behalf ratifies the whole of the transaction of which such act formed a part“
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(e) Then by promising for refund on 16-May, and not remitting the money while everyday sending a new installation engg who would call, but couldn't install due to lack of infrastructure, and still continue to hold onto the money, IPC 406 which is criminal breach of trust got invoked.
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Besides this, of course it was Consumer Protection Act and then Tort law for mental agony and negligence.