Reliance Communications breaks away from tariff metering tradition of Indian telecom industry

[mgcarley]

^^ This is not the first time Reliance comes forward with such gimmicks. I read somewhere that they were chided for advertising Netconnect as "India's fastest broadband service" !!

Then it became "India's Fastest Mobile Service" or something. Which according to both reviews and fact, it so isn't.

Basically speaking, I think they should have their asses handed to them: an unlimited service suggests no overuse charges, which there clearly is.

Now, obviously they can't reduce voice quality or whatever, so in my opinion they should be forced to advertise it as a 900 minute plan (or 30 minutes a day plan, if we want to be really pedantic), with "bonus 2,700 minutes Reliance to Reliance talk time".

 

[y2s]

The use of the word "unlimited" should be regulated and should only be used if a given service is truly "unlimited" . India should go the European way and have class-action lawsuits against companies that advertise their services as "unlimited" and then impose Fair-Usage Policies. Why not just advertise the service as 10GB, 20GB, 100GB or in this case 900 minutes. Airtel is like the saddest company I have come across, It has two "unlimited" plans, both have the same speed and provide the same features yet are priced differently. Why? Because they have different Fair Usage Policies... I mean WTF:madness:

 

[mgcarley]

The use of the word "unlimited" should be regulated and should only be used if a given service is truly "unlimited" . India should go the European way and have class-action lawsuits against companies that advertise their services as "unlimited" and then impose Fair-Usage Policies. Why not just advertise the service as 10GB, 20GB, 100GB or in this case 900 minutes. Airtel is like the saddest company I have come across, It has two "unlimited" plans, both have the same speed and provide the same features yet are priced differently. Why? Because they have different Fair Usage Policies... I mean WTF:madness:

We're talking about two different things here. The service is still unlimited in the sense that there are no over-use charges, even if it is "crippled".

Reliance starts charging you 50p per minute on these plans if you use more than 30 minutes per day, which is not even remotely close to "unlimited", but unlike a Broadband service which can reduce your speed (it's still "usable"), they can't reduce the quality of a telephone call.

In addition, many countries in Europe (in particular Belgium, for some reason) also put fair usage caps on Broadband - they're usually 250+GB, but still they do exist.

 

[y2s]

Yeah, But 250GB is acceptable, and I'm sure they advertise appropriately. Why call a 30min/day plan unlimited in the first place?? I mean, TRAI or the advertising authorities should crack down on this.

 

[mgcarley]

Yeah, But 250GB is acceptable, and I'm sure they advertise appropriately.

Sometimes. Usually it's hidden in the small print - Fair Usage Policies don't attract penalties - instead they'll normally just give you a call and tell you to curb your usage rather than charging you extra fees or reducing your speed, but I guess every ISP varies.

I put some links to some PCCW HK Fair Usage Policy at https://broadband.forum/hayai-broadband/59278-hayai-broadband-fair-usage-policy/ and I have some links to UK ISP FUPs on another thread (will try to find).

Why call a 30min/day plan unlimited in the first place?? I mean, TRAI or the advertising authorities should crack down on this.

Like I was saying

Fair Non Commercial usage cap of half an hour per day would be applicable for Non-Reliance calls.
All Non-Reliance calls beyond 30 mins/day will be charged at 50p/min

Reliance Prepaid Mobile Recharge Vouchers & Reliance Mobile Recharge Information

---------- Post added at 02:21 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:45 AM ----------

Examples (these are mostly for Broadband, not phone usage):

https://www.bethere.co.uk/web/beportal/beunlimited
fair use policy | orange - quite reasonable, IMHO, and the kind of FUP we are leaning towards:
What will happen if my use is very high?
If you only occasionally have very high usage, we're unlikely to be concerned. If it is happening regularly, we may either have to reduce the transmission speed of your broadband while we continue to keep an eye on your usage, or suspend your service and/or possibly close your account.
BT Broadband – Unlimited UK broadband internet connection for less **FUP on Phone Usage
Broadband - Terms & Conditions - O2

Fair Usage Broadband - The Truth About 'Fair Usage' Broadband

 

[sumru]

Reliance now does advetrise that Fair Usage Policy applies to Calls for other networks but there is no mention of the 2700mins cap on R-2-R Calls?

Following is directly from there website
* Fair Non Commercial usage cap of half an hour per day would be applicable for Reliance to other network calls.
All Reliance to other network calls beyond 30 mins/day will be charged at 50p/min

So does that mean that there is no cap on Reliance to Reliance calls?

 

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