Kalyan8217;s quot;call from the deadquot;

MUMBAI, June 17: For the past one week, citizens of Kalyan have been having a tough time with telephones. Out of the 15,000 lines in the city, 9,000 are now out of order leaving users in the lurch. There has been no word from the Kalyan Telecom District KTD on the reason for the problem.

With the authorities taking a leaf out of Union Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha8217;s Rs 4 petro-hike idea, thousands of subscribers in the city were already in for a rude shock. For, they have had to dial 022 for Thane, Mulund and some Bhandup numbers since June 11. Usually, a subscriber can dial any number in Thane and Mumbai directly by dialling 911. However, they have been making STD calls to Thane, Mulund and Bhandup leading to billing as high as Rs 5.75 to Rs 25 per call which usually costs not more than Rs 3.32. Physically challenged Bhiku Ghorpade, who runs a public booth in the city, pointed out that all numbers beginning with 58242; needed to be dialled as an STD. He is not the only one complaining. quot;With no word fromthe authorities, we have been fighting with customers,quot; rued a frustrated B S Mittal who runs a telephone booth in Sindhi Gate, Kalyan. According to him, people are blaming the booth owners for surprisingly high bills. quot;They allege that if the change was made by the telecom department there would have been some kind of intimation,quot; he points out.

Said Kirti Phadtre, a housewife: quot;We have learnt to live with a disturbed or non-operative telephone line and rude staff at the exchange. But this is plain extortion.quot; According to her, subscribers don8217;t know whom to contact as they have tried everything from complaining in person to written complaints.

There is a facility available to make enquiries or complaints by dialling 1988242;. But even efforts made by Express Newsline to get though this number failed 8212; whenever the number was dialled, the response was quot;this facility is not available on your telephone.quot;

When contacted, the Area Manager, Mr S. K. Bali, admitted a technical problem. quot;We are trying tolocate the fault and rectify it,quot; he said. He, however, changed his stance when asked whether those who had documentary evidence of having been charged extra would be reimbursed. quot;The problem is technical and is at the Mumbai end. So we cannot be held responsible,quot; he told Express Newsline. He could not even give an approximate figure of KTD8217;s monetary gain due to the problem.