Flood relief: BSNL not to charge for telecom services in Kashmir for September

, Oct 10: Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) today joined other service providers in announcing relief to customers in the valley during the period when the state was hit by floods.

The company said it would not charge its customers in Jammu and Kashmir for the telecommunication services for the month of September for not being able to provide the services fully during the period. The announcement came following state Governor N N Vohra’s suggestion in this regard to R N Sudhakar, Chief General Manager, BSNL, Jammu and Kashmir Circle, who called on the Governor at Raj Bhavan yesterday.

"Sudhakar agreed to the Governor’s suggestion that the consumers must not be billed for the current billing cycle and, in fact, given certain concessions," an official spokesman said. He said Sudhakar informed the Governor about the various problems which had been encountered by BSNL in restoring telecommunication services in the aftermath of recent floods in the State.

He also apprised the Governor of the steps so far taken to address these difficulties. A great deal of progress has been being achieved in the replacement of Transmission Equipment at BSNL office in Lal Chowk and in partially restoring the mobile network, landline telephones, wireless telephone lines and internet facility. He said the Governor emphasised the need for reliable alternate wireless connectivity in the State, which can be used at the time of disasters and stressed the importance of telecommunication facilities for the revival of economy of the state after this mega disaster.

Meanwhile, Idea Cellular also announced that the company will waive off charges for its services for the period they remained affected due to the floods. Reliance Communications had yesterday said its subscribers in the flood-affected Kashmir region will get a 50 per cent waiver on voice packs and 100 per cent waiver on data packs for September.

PTI