Procedure to surrender BSNL phone line and/or broadband.
1 ) First visit Commercial Officer of your exchange. He will give you a Disconnection Form (self written application will
not do). Fill up the form (attach a Voter ID xerox) with basic information - name, phone number, reason for leaving BSNL etc. The Commercial Officer will give you a Disconnection Slip. He will ask you to visit AOTR of your area (they have zone based designations AOTR I, II, III). AOTR of your area will brief you on what to bring (read step 3 about 6 attachments).
Note -- Commercial Officer and AOTR are usually in same building.
2 ) With the Disconnection Slip obtained visit SDE Ext for your zone exchange to surrender customer premise equipment (in my case there was a provision to visit
only on Mon, Wed, Fri 3 - 4 PM; I do not know if this applies to other cities). You should avoid visiting the SDE on same day. The details of the Disconnection Slip needs to be uploaded and rarely reflects on same day. Surrender the landline, telephone jack surface mount box, RJ 11 cable, modem,
ADSL splitter, RJ 45 cable (like me you may or may not have rented the latter 3; if you did not rent then no need to bother about the latter 3). You will get a Surrender Receipt detailing what you returned. Read it carefully. For anything missing they will subtract from deposit.
Note -- The SDE who receives the phone set may or may not be in same building as Commercial Officer and AOTR. In my case they were situated one mile apart and caused me to run here to there and back because I was determined to complete it in one working day. Others may be luckier in that CO and SDE maybe situated in same building for their exchange.
3 ) Revisit the AOTR and submit to him an application (typed or handwritten) asking for refund in following proforma and attach 1 - 6 given below.
To,
The Commercial officer, BSNL
XXXX Telephone Exchange,
Pincode
Date: XX-XX-XXXX
Dear Sir/Madam,
Re: refund of deposit amount phone number XXXX XXXX
I have surrendered my connection for landline and broadband XXXX XXXX. Attached please find copy of --
- Disconnection Slip (may or may not be original)
- Surrender Receipt (original)
- Money Receipt (original) -- This is the first amount you ever paid to BSNL -- before the first bill was raised. If you do not have it you have to provide a bond on Rs 10 non-judicial stamp paper. The proforma for this bond is with BSNL AOTRs. You need to type it on stamp paper and have it notarized.
- Voter ID copy (self attested) (this is another copy not the one used in 1).
- Cancelled cheque
- Copy of online receipt for last bill raised or Copy of last bill received (if paid at cash counter)
I request you to issue the closure proceeds, if any, through transfer to my bank account or by cheque to my home address.
Bank Name: XXXX
Bank Address: XXXX
Account No: XXXX
Account Type: Savings/Current
MICR Code: XXXX
IFSC Code: XXXX
Thanking You,
Yours Sincerely,
XXXX
123, XYZ Avenue
Pincode
Mobile Phone Number: XXXXX XXXXX
4 ) The AOTR will stamp a copy of the above letter as Received. Refund will be after few months.
Reason for this lengthy post is there is no clear direction on the internet of how exactly to surrender BSNL landline or broadband. One needs 3 clearances in all and has to attach 7 pieces of paper.
In past I have surrendered post paid Airtel connection once and Vodafone twice. All three times it was a silky smooth process requiring a single visit to the customer care center. Both Airtel and Vodafone refunded to me the deposit in less than a month and none of them required a bond on non-judicial stamp paper if I had lost my original money receipt (honestly who has kept the first application money receipt from 2007 or 1997 or probably 1957!!). Why on earth do I need my original money receipt?
This process (steps 1 to 4) took me continuous work from 10:30 AM - 4:30 PM today. If broken into multiple days it will take at 3 visits - which is really impossible for most working people.
