The outbreak of coronavirus has disrupted our daily routine. The subsequent lockdown caused by this outbreak has forced us to stay put inside our houses. One can’t venture out unless it is an absolute emergency. Thus, it was a great move by telecom providers such as NTC and Ncell to bring a suitable offer for its customers. Obviously, this fell under their CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) too. Currently, the aforementioned telecom providers are bringing up various schemes and offers. And one of the offers by Ncell and NTC right now is of giving out a bonus on balance recharge.
Right now, we’re unable to simply go out and purchase recharge cards on our will. So, it made sense that NTC and Ncell we’re giving out bonuses for recharge. The percentage varies though, NTC is offering a 100% bonus whereas it is 120% in case of Ncell. Moreover, this offer applies to both recharge done through cards and MPoS.
In a time of crisis, this seems like a great offer right. I mean you buy to put in Rs. 50 and voilà, you get a recharge of Rs. 100 instead (in case of NTC). So, why is this seemingly great offer a cause of irking for so many consumers?
Well, there’s a catch. There’s always a catch! Go through the Facebook pages of NTC and Ncell and you’ll see so many people complaining about this offer. I looked around a bit and it was easy to see why people were dissatisfied or even felt cheated by it. For starters, the bonus balance can be used within their respective network only. That is, you can use the bonus amount to call or send messages between NT-NT users or Ncell-Ncell users only. Furthermore, you cannot buy any data packs with this bonus amount. You’ll have to “pay as you go“, in case you want to use mobile data.
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Additionally, another reason why it is causing so much irk is the validity period of the bonus amount. For Ncell users, no matter the recharge amount, the bonus will be available for 3 days only. However, for NTC users, the amount varies as per the recharge amount. We’ve listed down the details of the bonus amount for NTC users down below.
- Through recharge card:
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- Rs. 50 & Rs. 100 – 2 days
- Rs. 2000 & Rs. 500 – 4 days
- Rs. 1000 – 6 days
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- Through MPoS:
- Rs. 10 & Rs. 99 – 2 days
- Rs. 100 & Rs. 499 – 4 days
- Rs. 500 & Rs. 999 – 6 days
- Rs. 1000 & above – 10 days
Oh and not to forget this bonus balance cannot be used for balance transfer and the validity of the offer is until April 1, 2020, only (for NTC).
Now, I’m not saying that these telecom companies should not have placed any sort of conditions for this offer. Cause, at the end of the day, they are a business entity and they have to look after their profits. But I can also relate to consumer’s complaints too. What I believe is that they should have been flexible with the validity of the bonus amount and its usage in terms of internet data. I mean we’re in a lockdown for a foreseeable future, who knows when can we once again go out to buy a recharge card. Thus, being flexible about the validity period would have made sense. But that’s just my thought, what do you guys think about it? Should the bonus in recharge of NTC & Ncell SIMs be more flexible?
