Debit mandate form for BSNL bills

Since years the BSNL had an option of deducting phone bills, both of landline and mobile, from the customer’s bank account if the option was availed. For more than year now this option was stopped due to ‘technical’ reasons which were never revealed to the public. 

Since a few months, the customer had to pay the bills either at the post office or at BSNL office or online. Recently, BSNL is giving out Debit Mandate Form for NACH which the customer has to fill and handover and the deduction would be initiated after two months. 

In the form, at column labelled “reference 2”, we need to provide the phone number for which the bank mandate is sought. There is another column labeled “phone number”, where we need to fill an alternate number. This is confusing since people tend to fill their phone number in this column rather than in “reference 2”. 

On enquiring we were told that “phone number” means we need to provide an alternate number, either of landline or another mobile! 

There are two issues. Firstly, “phone number” confuses the customer. It could have been labelled as “alternate number (if any)”. Secondly, it is compulsory to fill this column else the form is not accepted! The question is what happens if a customer does not have a landline or an alternate mobile number? 

BSNL should do away with such meaningless columns and accept the forms as long as the bank details and phone numbers for which mandate is required are correct. 

Was it necessary for BSNL to stop the previously given mandate deduction and start a new one which is in no way different? It is all a waste of time, money and stationery. It would have been simple if BSNL had asked only those customers to fill the new form who wanted to change the earlier mandate deduction.