Return VAS Charges In 15 Days, TRAI Tells Vodafone

TRAI has asked Vodafone (NYSE: VOD) to refund VAS charges levied on subscribers within 15 days for providing services without their consent.

According to ET, TRAI had also asked Idea to refund VAS charges last year for a similar reason. Several Vodafone users have complained regarding provision of VAS services without them having given explicit consent, as per the press release.

According to TRAI’s communication to the operators, in case any VAS made through tele-calling the offer has to be subsequently made in writing, containing all relevant details of the VAS offered, including the charges, and before activation has to get the explicit consent of the customer obtained by landline/SMS/fax/email/electronic means.

Short of a industry-strength psychoanalysis, how on earth is Vodafone expected to determine which VAS charges it has fraudulently imposed on the users? A large proportion of users are ignorant of services subscribed to since none of the directives set forth by TRAI in Oct 2007 to ensure follow-ups leading to activation are followed by operators. Time to take a nice long look at my ever depressing mobile bill.

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