Vishwa Hindu Parishad appealed to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) to take action against the mobile service providers, which doubled the SMS charges on Diwali and also direct them to withdraw this unjust and exploiting decision. In a legal notice sent to all mobile service providers VHP general secretary Dr Pravin Togadia said some mobile companies not only doubled the sms charges on Diwali but also warned their customers that they would not be able to avail of the special sms schemes even though they opted for the scheme based on the mobile company’s own advertisements and offers. Instead the mobile companies threatened the customers by sms that they would have to pay normal (meaning double) the charges for their sms sent on Hindu festival Diwali for two days.
It is bias against Hindus and this is religious discrimination as the Islamic festival Eid was recently celebrated and there was no such extra charge in the garb of calling it a normal charge. Hindu customers are being cheated this way on Diwali the VHP alleged. This non-application of earlier activated free/cheap schemes only on Diwai’s two days had not been announced when the customers were buying the sms packages or choosing the mobile service provider. It is not only an act of misleading the customers but also an unfair trade practice,” the legal notice said.
(FOC)
