Problem in balance top-up leaves NT users angry
Fri, Dec 11, 2015 11:10 AM on External Media, Others,
“If you claim you will never get angry, try topping up your balance using a Nepal Telecom (NT) recharge card,” Achyut Puri of Shantinagar tweeted on Thursday.
Similarly, Trishna Kaudinya, a research associate, says topping up NT mobile phone is like trying your luck out. “NT has failed to provide good customer service. It's a shame that national telecommunications service provider is unable to provide quality service even in the capital city,” she adds.
Not only Puri and Kaudinya, many NT consumers are facing problem in topping up their balance in the past few days. They have used social media platforms to vent their anger against the state-owned telecom operator.
NT officials say the problem is because of network congestion. Pratibha Vaidya, spokesperson of NT, says they were facing network congestion because of high use of top up vouchers of small denominations. “The problem started few weeks ago after NT started distributing recharge card of Rs 50 denomination,” Vaidya said, adding that subscribers were mostly using recharge cards of smaller denominations.
“If they want to top-up Rs 200, they are topping up the amount by using four cards of Rs 50 denomination instead of buying card of Rs 200 denomination. This is causing network congestion,” Vaidya added. She further said NT has started tightening distribution of top-up card of Rs 50 denomination. “We are also working to enhance capacity of our system.”
Vaidya also requested subscribers to use top-up cards of higher denomination or use mobile point of sale (mPOS) systems.
NT has mPOS stations at various places from where subscribers can top-up from Rs 10 to as high as Rs 5,000.
However, many shops are selling top-up cards of Rs 50 only, saying that NT has not distributed cards of higher denominations.
“I tried searching top-up card of Rs 200 denomination in around 10 shops to no avail. NT should solve this problem immediately as telecommunications is an emergency service," Dharmendra KC, a student of Morang, said.
Vaidya also said the problem is also because of rise in number of pre-paid data users who mostly use recharge card of smaller denominations.
Former Chief Secretary Leela Mani Paudyal has urged NT to resolve the recurring problem of balance top-up and high call drop rate, and improve the quality of voice service. "NT should take action against employees who are not performing their responsibility efficiently. Similarly, it should apologize to subscribers and express commitment to improve service quality,” Paudyal wrote in his Facebook post on Thursday.
NT has more than 10.1 million GSM subscribers.
Source: Republica
