Businessman accuses Vodafone of allotting his 7-year old number that ends in 786 to another customer
Businessman accuses Vodafone of allotting his 7-year old number that ends in 786 to another customeru00a0
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WRONG NUMBER? Taher Khatri's Vodafone mobile number was deactivated during his trip to Canada |
On January 7, during his trip to Canada, Taher Khatri's phone, which was on international roaming, stopped working, and 'registration failure' kept flashing on the phone screen.
Back in Mumbai, the garment exporter from Nizam Street in Mandvi, approached the nearest Vodafone gallery in Fort, and discovered that not only was his Vodafone mobile number 98'''77786 deactivated, but also that the number had been assigned to a new customer on January 2.u00a0
u00a0"At first, I thought it was a technical fault. I was aghast when a Vodafone official revealed to me on my return that the number I had been using since 2002, had been registered with some other subscriber. I was virtually stranded in a foreign country without phone numbers and other vital information stored in the SIM.
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Moreover, special numbers like ones that end in 786 are sold for a premium up to Rs 25,000. How can they just give away the number to someone else?" asked Taher.
According to Taher, on January 11, a Vodafone officer at Peninsula Corporate Park asked him to apply for a new one.
Vodafone's written reply to Taher states, "We regret to inform you that the above mentioned number is registered in another name hence we are unable to assist you on the same."
Taher in his complaint to the Crime Branch points out that details related to his business associates, banking and credit card were registered on the SIM card over the year, which would cause him immense financial and personal harm if it fell into the wrong hands.
MiD DAY tried to contact the number but it was unreachable. While Vodafone corporate executive Madhav Das said the matter is being looked into, another executive Samridhi said, "Our technical experts will conduct a thorough investigation on Tuesday morning."
