My open letter to Mr. Manohar Parrikar- Chief Minister of Goa

Dear Mr Manohar Parrikar,

I have been visiting Goa for nearly two decades now. Never before I was stopped at the Patradevi check post while exiting Goa. However, this time all vehicles (both private and commercial) were stopped and asked to go to the excise counter (picture below). 

The cops (or look alike in Khaki dress) asked for my driving license and car number- which was OK and I complied. They also asked if I was carrying any liquor. I had none. The gentle man then asks me to give him Rs 50/-. I asked him why, he said for "chai pani". I blasted him and demanded to see his identity and name plate. He became defensive and ran out leaving the counter, apologizing.

Anyway, the point is you ( Government of Goa) already charged me (and others, visiting Goa by road) Rs 250/- while entering- can you not buy your officers some "chai pani" with the money collected or will they have to resort to begging like this?

Please look into this matter- it is serious and destroys the image of Goa Govt (and indirectly you too, being the Chief Minister).

Also, please display the contact numbers of higher ups at the check-post who can be contacted to report such cases.

If you need anymore specific information, please feel free to reach me (by commenting on this post or sending a DM) and I shall be happy to help.

Best Regards,
-BJ

Efficiency of EMS Speed Post by Indiapost

My daughter sent rakhi to her little cousins in my native town at Laheriasarai (Darbhanga) in Bihar on 4th, August 2011. The parcel was finally delivered on 20th, August 2011. It took two weeks for "speed post". Wonder how much would it take for an ordinary post? I do not understand the route log above, however, it appears very amusing to me:: Pune -> Mumbai -> Pune -> Patna -> Muzaffarpur -> Kishanganj ->Patna -> Darbhanga/LHR.

Airtel prepaid mobile service fraud

This one is a rant about pathetic service that I am getting from my mobile service provider.

For last several months, i.e. June to be precise, Airtel is sending unsolicited SMS disguised as a VAS (value added service) to my mobile and debiting my account Rs 3/- for each such SMS. The SMS comes from 290603 with such enchanting subjects like Tip Of the Day and Love Tip of The Day.

By now they have emptied all my prepaid balance and it has turned negative Rs (-) 30/- . I am denied to make any outside call or send sms due to this!! As per the law of the land no service provider can charge for VAS unless customer has explicitly subscribed it.

Apparently, I am not the first or last victim. There are many like me here, here and here. Just google airtel 290603 sms, there are hundreds of other hapless customers getting robbed like this. This is clearly helping them to swell the revenue at the cost of customers' hard earned money.

Their customer service helpline (121) is always busy. If you are fortunate enough to go beyond the call queue, you will find no menu to reach their phone officers to complain about this while countless emails to 121@airtel are auto acknowledged back with a standard reply- we are looking into this.

While I am taking this matter to the appropriate authorities, wanted this post to alert the users (and prospective customers) of Airtel's service about their fraudulent ways of fleecing money.
Check your (dwindling) prepaid balance- is it vanishing mysteriously?