Heard of pgportal.gov.in? About time you do

What www.pgportal.gov.in is about: Quote: The DAR&PG has been making endeavors to bring excellence in public service delivery and to redress grievances of citizens in a meaningful manner by effectively coordinating with different Ministries and Departments of the Government and trying to eliminate the causes of grievances. This is a Government of India Portal aimed at providing the citizens with a platform for redress of their grievances. If you have any grievance against any Government organization in the country, you may lodge your grievance here which will go to the Ministry/Department/State Government concerned for immediate redress. About 3 months back, I decided to use MNP (Mobile Number Portability) and move from Vodafone GSM to Reliance CDMA. Primary reason : Better coverage in Mumbai, including at my place (where no GSM provider is able to provide a clear signal). MNP Attempt 1 : I carefully studied the MNP procedure, contacted Reliance and prepared all the necessary documents. Then, I called Vodafone customer care to inform them of my decision, and asked if anything required to be done before applying. They assured me that there are no pending obligations on my account and that I can proceed without worry. Applied for MNP and within 5 days, I received the first rejection SMS. I was livid. The Vodafone SMS read that I am under some kind of "contractual obligation". I got in touch with Vodafone and they told me some rubbish about an SMS pack. Well, why didn't you inform me of this earlier, when I'd specifically called to ask? Either ways, Vodafone cancelled my SMS pack (and whatever other packs possible) & told me that I'm good to go. MNP Attempt 2 : Back to Reliance. Same form, same documentation but had to buy a new SIM. 5 days later, my application was rejected again on the basis of "contractual obligation"!!! Once more, Vodafone gave me some crap about special packages that I had on my number; this DESPITE my calling them 3 times to ensure there are no "contractual obligations" pending. I wrote to Vodafone several times, and finally got a written assurance (on email) that I can proceed with MNP. And that Vodafone won't unfairly stop me. MNP Attempt 3 : Back to Reliance. Same form, same documentation but had to buy a new SIM again. 5 - 6 days later, my application was rejected. This time, the reason was "Outstanding bill". What on earth, man! I have held my account in good standing for 7 years now. And obviously, at any given point of time, any mobile customer will have some outstanding $$$. The new bill was generated 2 days prior to my MNP rejection, and the due date was still a couple of days away. Either ways, at the time of applying for MNP, you are made to sign a declaration that you will clear your previous operator's dues. Why the fuss?!!! In my books, Vodafone is breaking the law by unfairly harassing its customers from leaving, and resorts to cheat tactics to try & make things as difficult as possible. I knew there is no point reasoning out any more with Vodafone because, as experience showed, they are just going to make me run around in circles. In the meantime, I got caught up with work, so couldn't pursue this for a while. Later in October, I brought up the MNP task again. While looking for solutions online (where else, but forums!!), I found a post on rimweb.in that suggested lodging a grievance on www.pgportal.gov.in. I did so immediately. To cut a long story short: Right after lodging a grievance on pgportal, I received the name, address & phone number of the official who has been assigned my case. My case was allocated to Ms. Monisha Bishwas who, as I found out, was extremely straight-forward, competent and a disciplinarian. Shortly after lodging this complaint, I received a call from Vodafone profusely apologising for the inconvenience they have caused me, and that I am free to move to any network of my choice. I again took a written email confirmation from Vodafone to that effect. Applied for MNP again, and somehow didn't receive any SMS (accept / reject), even after a week. I called Ms. Bishwas' office one morning and explained my case. By the afternoon of the same day, she called me back and had Reliance on one line, and Vodafone on the other. She categorically told Vodafone to stop playing games and to process my MNP application at the earliest. I could hear her giving instructions (and Vodafone's very apologetic replies :)). Next, she got Reliance on the line and gave them very clear instructions to process my case as well. Within 60 minutes, I had a call from Reliance. And in 48 hours, a confirmation SMS from Vodafone & Reliance on the success of my application. I'm now on Reliance CDMA! The porting went through successfully on the 19th of November, 2011. Get this : Earlier today, some Senior chaps from Vodafone & Reliance called me to check "if my connection is working smoothly, and if I have any other complaints at all". Even after telling them that I have no complaints, they asked me the same question 2 or 3 times each. Hats off not only to the pgportal.gov.in initiative, but also to the Government for diligently following through on its grievance-solving mechanism. I did call Ms. Bishwas early in the morning to thank her for her support. She replied that gratitude isn't needed, and she's just doing her job. Hats off, Ma'am. P.S. If you thought CDMA network users don't have a choice of phones, check out www.cellwala.com. I got myself a Samsung Fascinate (CDMA version of Samsung Galaxy S) for 16K. P.P.S. @ Vodafone : Sorry, but your attitude sucks. It's left such a bitter taste in my mouth that I'm going to port my other number out of your network as well (a number I originally had no plan to use the MNP on).

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