Telecom operators want to serve top customers well, it will all depend on your phone bill

It seems Indian telecom companies are following the mantra ‘Higher the phone bill, better would be the service’.

Telcos are deciding on customer service based on amount of the phone bills and will zero on a different levels.

This move by telecom operators comes as a cost cutting measure and improving services for top-paying subscribers.

"They would rather serve the top customers very well, because if they port out it will hurt the bottom line. They serve the bulk of the low-ticket, prepaid customers, but it isn't even close to the same level of service and the wait time is longer," an executive, who serves telecom clients in a large Indian BPO company, told ET.

Telecom providers also plan to come up with premium call-centres to serve consumers who at least pay Rs 3000 as phone bill every month.

Reportedly, Vodafone RED plans for postpaid customers serve those consumers better who have a basic bill of Rs 1,299 per month.

Likewise, Airtel’s level starts at phone bill over Rs 3,000 a month.

"Our access times would be best in industry and the average wait time that a lower-paying customer would have would be between 12-15 seconds, as against 8-10 for a higher-paying one," Laxmi Rajan, national head-customer service at Vodafone, told ET in an email. She added that these were average wait times, and in peak hours it could vary on the higher said.