BSNL landline phone service would offer a rent rebate to Pune customers whose phones had been dead or faulty for 15 days at a stretch during April 2007 to July 2008.

The Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) has issued an interim circular to give a “rent rebate” to 22,700 customers whose telephones had gone dead for three or more days in a row. The telephones went dead due to technical faults, and occurred intermittently over a 14-month period.

In December, the BSNL deputy general manager had sought a sanction in rent rebate for effected customers from the general manager (finance).

The move was initiated after the matter was taken up with BSNL by Sajag Nagrik Manch president Vivek Velankar. Velankar had filed an application under the Right to Information (RTI) Act seeking information about the rent rebate given to customers whose phone connections had been dead or faulty for 15 days between April 2007 and July 2008.

According to Velankar, the information showed that only 1720 of the 25430 affected customers had received a compensation in the form of rent rebate. However all those  customers whose phone lines had been dead or faulty for more than 15 days at a stretch were eligible for it.  He wrote to the BSNL to make the necessary compensation to the remaining customers as well.

He also urged that  the company should pass on the rent rebate to eligible customers on its own.. "The amount should be adjusted in the next month's bill without seeking applications from customers," he further said.