Enlightened Delhiites complain most: MTNL

new delhi: there are more grievances pending with the delhi telephone department than anywhere else in india. but mahanagar telephone nigam ltd has a simple explanation: the people in delhi are more enlightened about their rights. mtnl has told a parliamentary select committee that delhi had the highest number of pending cases because the public grievance cells were within easy reach of customers.moreover, delhi customers were more conscious of their rights, mtnl told the standing committee on information technology. in reply to the committee's queries, the department of telecom, bharat sanchar nigam and mtnl said of 314 grievance cases pending for more than two months on october 31, 2000, delhi accounted for 81, followed by bihar with 55 cases. the telecom department had aimed at just 10.5 faults per 100 phones nationwide, but the actual figure reached 14.7. in delhi, the number of faults were a more than two-fold 31.7 per 100 against the targeted 14.7. the committee, which tabled its report in parliament on friday, has pulled up dot, bsnl and mtnl for not handling public complaints and grievances properly. the committee has also taken strong exception to the excuses and justifications given for this. it found that not only was there an absence of proper written records of the complaints made but also there was no mechanism to monitor the performance and achievements of telephone adalats and customer service centres constituted to settle public grievances. dot officials told the committee that in rural areas irregular power supply, inadequate transport facilities and shortage of skilled manpower were responsible for poor service and in cities like delhi rapid development work damaged the cables. though the department asked for creation of new posts and more staff for speedy disposal of grievances, the dot secretary admitted getting more staff in sanchar bhavan, delhi alone would not redress the problem. the committee, however, dismissed this and asked for strict supervision and a monitoring mechanism to protect the interest of the telephone subscribers in every area. the committee also disapproved the "piecemeal approach" towards over-charging pcos and hotels and asked for surprise checks and stringent action against such acts. ``lack of positive human approach has caused widespread discontentment amongst consumers and all aspects should be seriously looked into by the concerned departments and authorities for necessary remedial action," the committee recommended.