NOTHING UNFAIR IF YOU WANT TO MAKE A FAST BUCK 

I use a mobile phone with BSNL SIM card in it. While all service providers look to make some extra money from their users than what they are really entitled to, BSNL is no exception either. Recently, I received the following message in my mobile phone from BSNL.

“Under the inspirational leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, BSNL as a part of pro-people initiative, has decided to offer while roaming, without worrying about incoming call charges. For further details, contact 18001801503”

Again for a few more days, I received the same message repeatedly. Roaming charges for incoming calls are done away with. So far, so good.

Then, one fine day, I received the following message:

“Thanks for Subscribing to Funky Studio (3 Ringtones 2 Videos 1 Wallpaper)(59797) service. You have been charged Rs.5.0 for 5 days. To Unsub send SMS STOP or call 155223(tollfree)”

In fact, I do not know what this service is. There is no way I could have opted for it. Any way, my five rupees are gone and now, my anxiety was to save another five rupees which the cell phone company would deduct from my talk time balance in another 5 days. As I immediately wanted to unsubscribe, I sent the following SMS to 155223, as advised in the message above.

“STOP”

Then, I was surprised to receive the following message again.

“You are currently active on 1.Funky Studio (3 Ringtones+2 Videos+1 Wallpaper)

0.To Deactivate All .To unsubscribe please reply with the number of the service (Example:1)”

Then, I sent another SMS to 155223 as follows:

“STOP 1”

Then again, I received the following message from BSNL, which is a repetition of the earlier one:

“You are currently active on 1.Funky Studio (3 Ringtones+2 Videos+1 Wallpaper)

0.To Deactivate All .To unsubscribe please reply with the number of the service (Example:1)”

This time I was irritated a great deal and I did not know what else to do. Somehow, again, I sent the following SMS to 155223 as follows:

“1”

Then, I was relieved to receive the following message from BSNL:

“Your request for unsubscription of Funky Studio (3 Ringtones+2 Videos+1 Wallpaper) is accepted and will be processed soon”

After some time, I received yet another message, which read as follows:

“Dear Customer, Your pack Funky Studio (3 Ringtones+2 Videos+1 Wallpaper)(59797) is deactivated. Thank you for choosing BSNL.”

Now, I heaved a sigh of relief, since the process came to an end. And this process started without my knowledge, robbed me of my Rs.5 and my free-time of about half an hour.

And, I am sure there are a few lakhs of users who suffered this ordeal and contributed at least Rs.5 to BSNL to make up for their loss of incoming charges while the phone is on roaming. There may be users, who might not have noticed this and therefore, are still continuing to lose Rs.5 every five days to BSNL. Their loss is our BSNL’s gain.

The other avenues open for the company to make an extra buck are to send unsolicited SMSs to users, some of which are as shown below:

“Hello Dear..I Want to talk  with U, Please Quickly Call on My Number 12630066..I''m Waiting.”

“WIN Rs40000 CASH or GOLD, 4 Smart Phones & lots more!Dial 12555088 (Toll Free) from BSNL Mobile, Play BSNL GRAND GOLD Contest. Chgs apply.”

“Anamika 18yrs 
Hi 9441791684 Check out my bikini hott videos here
122.176.112.58/m4u/DirtyNightShow.jsp?id=OTE5NDQxNzkxNjg0”

You either telephone to the given number or click on the link provided and you are certain to lose some amount, each time you proceed further.

If anyone knows filthier and dirtier ways to adopt to make money, BSNL would be glad to be in touch with them, I suppose.

(Note: The contents in the inverted commas above are the copied and pasted messages received from BSNL and the ones I sent them to get the uncalled for ‘service’ discontinued). 

So many aspects of smoking

Smoking, particularly cigarette smoking, as we all know, is the legacy of the west. When it comes to aping the west or something foreign, there is no one in the world to beat an Indian. If it is idiosyncratic of an individual to emulate the west, one can do nothing about it. But, in India, even the present Government or the earlier ones are no different either. We, as individuals or as a Government, do not have any original ideas. When the West indulged in smoking, we too did. When the West disapproved of it, the individuals who got addicted to smoking could not give up smoking, but the Government started appeasing the west by imposing curbs on smoking and at the same time, taking advantage of the situation.

The government does not ban smoking, it goes on increasing prices of the tobacco products. The argument put forward is that it wants to make the habit of smoking unaffordable. If the price of a product is unaffordable, one would switch over to the less costly brand. In such a case, it must be ensured that there is only one brand available and that must be made costlier than ever. Then, to some extent, the desired effect may be brought about.

But, the way the prices are increased has a set pattern of vested interests getting benefitted. The modus operandi is like this. In the month of December and January, several times the normal stocks are dumped into the market. The government announces rise of tobacco products during annual budget, but in the market, they would be sold at that price two months in advance. If only one thinks how such a precise guess is made by the manufacturers and wholesalers, one would be awestruck. The union budget would be announced on the last day of February. In the last week of December of the earlier year, the cigarettes would go into black market. The stocks of December and January next would be sold for several months, even during March and April, at the increased price, without having to pay the taxes and duties due to the government. No stock of February will ever be seen in the market. The March stocks would enter the market with the new prices printed on them. This modus operandi has been going on for decades. And, one cannot imagine this without some source from the government helping the vested interests and needless to add, that source is also a vested interest.

To jump on a bandwagon is also an Indian trait. When quite a few people are of one opinion and some powerful men are also there in that group, any one saying anything against such an opinion is considered bad, negative or a traitor. No one would even listen to what he wants to say. Since the three BJP MPs, who went all out in support of smoking, are men of some stature, their opinion is on air and in print.  If their argument is found wanting, then the science that proved the direct linkage between smoking and cancer has to be made public and their queries to be answered with necessary evidences.

At the end of the day, if the Government thinks that smoking is bad, it has to ban the tobacco products altogether and ensure that it is not made available in the market and also black market. But, making a fast buck and fleecing a tobacco addict in the guise of putting some curbs on it does not speak well of a true government that cares for its people.

And then coming to larger pictorial warning on the cigarette packs, we want to portray an attitude of ‘more loyal than the king himself’.