1

A AA A
PROJECT PROJECT PROJECT PROJECT REPORT ON REPORT ON REPORT ON REPORT ON
SAME MONTH DEACTIVATION SAME MONTH DEACTIVATION SAME MONTH DEACTIVATION SAME MONTH DEACTIVATION ITS REASONS ITS REASONS ITS REASONS ITS REASONS
AND CUSTOMER EXPECTATION OF VODAFON AND CUSTOMER EXPECTATION OF VODAFON AND CUSTOMER EXPECTATION OF VODAFON AND CUSTOMER EXPECTATION OF VODAFONE AS E AS E AS E AS
THE BEST SERVICE PROVIDER THE BEST SERVICE PROVIDER THE BEST SERVICE PROVIDER THE BEST SERVICE PROVIDER IN KOLKATA IN KOLKATA IN KOLKATA IN KOLKATA


ORGANISATIONAL GUIDE ORGANISATION ADDRESS
Mr. Pinaki Nandy Mr. Pinaki Nandy Mr. Pinaki Nandy Mr. Pinaki Nandy Vodafone Essar East Limited Vodafone Essar East Limited Vodafone Essar East Limited Vodafone Essar East Limited
Senior Manager Senior Manager Senior Manager Senior Manager- -- - Zonal Operations Zonal Operations Zonal Operations Zonal Operations Constantia Office Complex Constantia Office Complex Constantia Office Complex Constantia Office Complex
11, Dr. U.N.Brahmachari Street 11, Dr. U.N.Brahmachari Street 11, Dr. U.N.Brahmachari Street 11, Dr. U.N.Brahmachari Street
Kolkata Kolkata Kolkata Kolkata- -- - 700017 700017 700017 700017
( A Summer Training Report submitted in partial fulfilment of 2
year PGDBM Course of Assam Institute of Management)

Submitted by:
Manabendra Deka
Roll No-28/D/2007
PGDBM- 4
th
Trimester
Assam Institute of Management
Bamunimaidan, Guwahati-21, Assam
2



DECLARATION


I II I, Manabendra Deka, a PGDBM second year student of
Assam Institute of Management, Bamunimaidan, Guwahati,
hereby declare that the enclosed project is entirely my individual
effort and has been purely done for Academic purpose. It was a
two month Summer Internship Programme which was
undertaken by me in order to learn about Vodafone in particular
so as to complete the project successfully and could give my best
to this Company.





Date: 09/07/2008 Manabendra Deka
3


ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
First of all First of all First of all First of all I bow my I bow my I bow my I bow my head in front of the Almighty who has always head in front of the Almighty who has always head in front of the Almighty who has always head in front of the Almighty who has always
been been been been with me with me with me with me as as as as the torch the torch the torch the torch bearer bearer bearer bearer throughout my work, by showing me throughout my work, by showing me throughout my work, by showing me throughout my work, by showing me
the right path and boosting my the right path and boosting my the right path and boosting my the right path and boosting my morale morale morale morale to bring to bring to bring to bring out the best in me out the best in me out the best in me out the best in me. .. .
I would like to I would like to I would like to I would like to convey my sincere thanks convey my sincere thanks convey my sincere thanks convey my sincere thanks and gratitude to and gratitude to and gratitude to and gratitude to Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr.
Shantikam Hazarika Shantikam Hazarika Shantikam Hazarika Shantikam Hazarika, ,, , Directo Directo Directo Director, Assam Institute of Management, r, Assam Institute of Management, r, Assam Institute of Management, r, Assam Institute of Management,
Guwahati, Guwahati, Guwahati, Guwahati, for giving me for giving me for giving me for giving me t tt the he he he opportunity to opportunity to opportunity to opportunity to undergo my undergo my undergo my undergo my Summer Summer Summer Summer
T TT Training in raining in raining in raining in Vodafone Vodafone Vodafone Vodafone. .. .
I am I am I am I am thankful to Mrs. Indrani Chatterj thankful to Mrs. Indrani Chatterj thankful to Mrs. Indrani Chatterj thankful to Mrs. Indrani Chatterjee, HR, Vodafone for enabling ee, HR, Vodafone for enabling ee, HR, Vodafone for enabling ee, HR, Vodafone for enabling
me to take up my me to take up my me to take up my me to take up my Summer Internship Project in Vodafone Summer Internship Project in Vodafone Summer Internship Project in Vodafone Summer Internship Project in Vodafone
I would like to offer my I would like to offer my I would like to offer my I would like to offer my sincere gratitude to Mr.Joydeep Sarkar, Senior sincere gratitude to Mr.Joydeep Sarkar, Senior sincere gratitude to Mr.Joydeep Sarkar, Senior sincere gratitude to Mr.Joydeep Sarkar, Senior
Man Man Man Manager ager ager ager- -- - Zonal Operations Zonal Operations Zonal Operations Zonal Operations, Vodafone for showing me , Vodafone for showing me , Vodafone for showing me , Vodafone for showing me the right path the right path the right path the right path
to go forward with the Project. to go forward with the Project. to go forward with the Project. to go forward with the Project.
I am I am I am I am greatly indebted to greatly indebted to greatly indebted to greatly indebted to Mr. Pinaki Nandy, Senior Manager Mr. Pinaki Nandy, Senior Manager Mr. Pinaki Nandy, Senior Manager Mr. Pinaki Nandy, Senior Manager- -- - Zonal Zonal Zonal Zonal
Manager Manager Manager Manager, Vodafone , Vodafone , Vodafone , Vodafone for for for for giving giving giving giving me me me me his his his his valuable valuable valuable valuable advice & showing me advice & showing me advice & showing me advice & showing me
the right path throughout my the right path throughout my the right path throughout my the right path throughout my wo wo wo work and h rk and h rk and h rk and helping me elping me elping me elping me in completing the in completing the in completing the in completing the
project project project project. .. .
My My My My sincere thanks t sincere thanks t sincere thanks t sincere thanks to Mr.Shubendu Dhar o Mr.Shubendu Dhar o Mr.Shubendu Dhar o Mr.Shubendu Dhar for enabling me for enabling me for enabling me for enabling me to acquire to acquire to acquire to acquire
the required data in order to initiate the project the required data in order to initiate the project the required data in order to initiate the project the required data in order to initiate the project . .. .
I would also like to thank my parents for helping me I would also like to thank my parents for helping me I would also like to thank my parents for helping me I would also like to thank my parents for helping me in completing the in completing the in completing the in completing the
project report project report project report project report. .. .


4



Lastly I would also like to thank all the DSA/DST who
helped me by providing the required information for the
completion the project report. They are:
SKYNET
DIGITAL BEES
SANTANU DAS
MB ENTERPRISE













5

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

TITLE OF THE PROJECT: A PROJECT REPORT ON SAME MONTH
DEACTIVATION ITS REASONS AND CUSTOMER EXPECTATION OF
VODAFONE AS THE BEST SERVICE PROVIDER IN KOLKATA
PLACE OF WORK: Vodafone Essar East Limited, Constantia Office
Complex, 11, Dr. U.N.Brahmachari Street, Kolkata- 700017
DURATION OF THE PROJECT: 1 MAY,08-30 JUNE, 08( 2 MONTHS)
ORGANIZATIONAL GUIDE: Mr. Pinaki Nandy, Senior Manager- Zonal
Operations
RESEARCH OBJECTIVE:-
The Research Objective is to find out the reasons of customers switching over
to other service providers from Vodafone so as to determine the loopholes in the
system and take necessary actions for improvement.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY:-
My research type is descriptive cross sectional. My Research comprised of
roughly 90% Primary data and 10% Secondary data. For Primary Data
collection I basically surveyed our sampling units through a questionnaire. For
Secondary Data I took the help of Internet and other journals.
Sampling plan:-
Sampling Unit: My sampling unit comprised of all the customers which have
been listed as Same Month Deactivation customers. The customers were
surveyed with structured questionnaires.
Sample Size: My total sample size was 180 customers.
Sampling Technique
Clustered Sampling.

6


ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS:
I visited various subscribers which were listed in Same Month Deactivation. I
also made calls and tried to find out the following:
The reasons which are responsible for Same Month Deactivation.
The subscribers who have left Vodafone belong to which talk plan.
The percentage of subscribers who has left Vodafone for some definite
reasons has paid the bills and left or not.
The subscribers leaving Vodafone Postpaid have moved to which plan or
service provider.
The subscriber who left the Vodafone connection was given the
connection Free of Cost (FOC) or non Free of Cost(non-FOC).
SUGGESTIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS :-
From My analysis I found that 25% SMD cases are because of
miscommitments by the sales executives and telecallers. So far this is the
major reason for SMD compared to old outstanding 14.40% and bill
higher than expectation 13% respectively.

The DSA and DSTs must employ better skilled personnel as sales
executives and telecallers.

They should monitor the sales executives properly This will result in
understanding their performance and finding out if there is any
miscommitment from the sales executives.

Before giving a CUG connection one must concentrate on the companys
employee policies to identify the on roll employee, take database of
customers

In case of a company, the DSA or the DST should ensure that the bill is
being paid by the company on account of employee leaving the job.

The verification dept must take all the required documents and scrutinize
them properly to identify if the customer is genuine or not.
7


The DSA and the DST should take added responsibility in case of SIM
loss and if possible replace it so as to retain the customer.

The verification team should be more active and try to activate the line
within 24 hours so as to gain more and more customers because there are
cases where customers have switched over to competition plans due to
delay in verification.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE PROJECT:-
My project is based on finding out the reasons for which Same Month
Deactivation takes place. The Direct Sales Team and the Direct Sales Agents are
responsible for reaching to more and more customers and try to convert the
customers of Airtel, Reliance, TATA Indicom and Vodafone Prepaid to
Vodafone Postpaid. They have to retain the customers up to 60 days. But many
a times the line gets deactivated or the customer may move out of Vodafone.
This may take place due to varied reasons.
I made calls and visits to all the customers which were listed as Same Month
Deactivation customers. I tried to find out the reasons for their non-
retainment of Vodafone Postpaid. I focused on finding out the plans they were
in and the plan they moved in after leaving Vodafone. Also I tried to know that
people leaving Vodafone has mostly paid the bill and left or without paying the
bill has left.This gave me an insight upon the working process of Vodafone and
its DSA and DST. It also made me to come to some conclusions that Vodafone
could improve itself in which areas. The brand name of Vodafone and its
excellent network has increased its customer base. Also the tariff plans which
are customized for different companies have helped to acquire a larger part of
the market share.
It has also given me a clear view that Vodafone shares the same space as
Airtel, its very near competitor in most areas and so where it could improve its
working so as to maintain the customer base and also to increase the margin
of customers between Vodafone and Airtel.

8

TABLE OF CONTENTS


CHAPTERS...................................................................................................................PAGE NOS

CHAPTER 1....................................................................................................................... 9-15

(INTRODUCTION AND
BUSINESS PROCESS OF VODAFONE)

CHAPTER 2...................................................................................................................... 16-18

(RESEARCH OBJECTIVE
AND RESEARCH METHODOOGY)

CHAPTER 3.......................................................................................................................19-67

(ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS)

CHAPTER 4....................................................................................................................... 68-70
(SUGGESTIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS)
CHAPTER 5........................................................................................................................ 71-73
(CONCLUSIONS AND LIMITATIONS)
ANNEXURE 1.....................................................................................................................74-75

(BIBLIOGRAPHY)

ANNEXURE 2.....................................................................................................................76-79

(QUESTIONAIRE)











9




CHAPTER 1




(INTRODUCTION AND BUSINESS PROCESS OF VODAFONE)




















10


A BRIEF INTRODUCTION ON VODAFONE

VODAFONE was formed in 1984 as a subsidiary of Racal Electronics Plc. Then
known as Racal Telecom Limited, approximately 20% of the company's capital was
offered to the public in October 1988. It was fully demerged from Racal Electronics
Plc and became an independent company in September 1991, at which time it
changed its name to Vodafone Group Plc.
VODAFONE is a mobile network operator headquartered in Berkshire, England, UK.
It is the largest mobile telecommunications network company in the world by
turnover and has a market value of about 886 billion (May 2008). Vodafone
currently has equity interests in 25 countries and Partner Networks in a further 42
countries with over 200 million customers worldwide.
It is the second largest mobile telecom group in the world behind China Mobile. The
eight markets where it has more than ten million proportionate customers are the
United Kingdom, Germany, India, Italy, Spain, Turkey, Egypt and the United States.
In the U.S., these customers come via its minority stake in Verizon Wireless, and in
the other seven markets Vodafone has majority-controlled subsidiaries.
British telecom giant VODAFONE bagged the 67% Hutch Telecom International
(HTIL) stake in Hutch-Essar at an enterprise value of $19.3 billion (approx Rs 86,000
crore) which comes to $794 per share in 2007
Vodafone Essar in India is a subsidiary of Vodafone Group Plc and commenced
operations in 1994 when its predecessor Hutchison Telecom acquired the cellular
licence for Mumbai. Vodafone Essar now has operations in 16 circles covering 86%
of India's mobile customer base, with over 45.78 million customers .

Over the years, Vodafone Essar, under the Hutch brand, has been named the 'Most
Respected Telecom Company', the 'Best Mobile Service in the country' and the
'Most Creative and Most Effective Advertiser of the Year'. The Essar Group is a
diversified business corporation with interests spanning the manufacturing and
service sectors like Steel, Energy, Power, Communications, Shipping & Logistics
and Construction. The Group has an asset base of over Rs 400 billion (US$ 10
billion)

The achievements of Vodafone in 2007 were:-
Vodafone agrees to acquire Tele2 Italia Spa and Tele2 Telecommunication
Services SLU from Tele2 AB Group. (October)
Safaricom, Vodafones partner in Kenya announces the launch of M-PESA,
an innovative new mobile payment solution that enables customers to
complete simple financial transactions by mobile phone. (February)
Vodafone announces agreements with both Microsoft and Yahoo! to bring
seamless Instant Messaging (IM) services to the mobile which can be
accessed from both the PC and mobile handsets. (February)
11

YouTube agrees to offer Vodafone customers specially rendered YouTube
pages on their mobile phones. With Google, Vodafone announces its intention
to develop a location-based version of Google Maps for.
VODAFONE mainly deals with prepaid and postpaid connections. Its other products
includes Home Calling Cards, World Calling Cards, Vodafone Handyphone,
Vodafone Office, etc.
The analogue services set up in countries across Europe during the late 1980s were
often not compatible, with subscribers unable to use the same mobile phone moving
from one country to the next. To solve this and other problems a new standard
known as the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) was developed.
Second generation (2G) digital technology added the ability to transmit data along
with voice over mobile networks and was the origin of internet access on the move.
Wireless Application Protocol (WAP), a standard for internet-based services
accessible on small mobile phone screens, provided early information services like
news, movie start times and even the live Vodafone share price.
Data transmission rates edged upwards with the introduction of General Packet
Radio Service (GPRS), which enabled internet and email access and had the
additional benefit of an always-on internet connection on handsets. 3G data rates (at
a peak rate of 384 Kbps) are about seven times faster than a fixed line dial-up
connection. The latest leap in data transmission speeds came via High-Speed
Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA), offering similar speeds to current Digital
Subscriber Line (DSL) broadband.
Their mobile phone services rely on a network of 96,500 base station sites to send
and receive voice calls and other mobile services, such as text messages, emails,
pictures, internet, TV and download.
Vodafone spent more than 23.8 billion purchasing products and services from more
than 40,000 suppliers in 2007/08. They source equipment for their networks and the
handsets they sell from third party manufacturers which themselves source
components and assembled products from other suppliers. Vodafone's suppliers of
telecommunications and IT equipment are mainly large multi-nationals.
The Company's ordinary shares are listed on the London Stock Exchange and the
Company's American Depositary Shares ('ADSs') are listed on the New York Stock
Exchange. The Company had a total market capitalisation of approximately 99
billion at 31 December 2007.




12

ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE OF VODAFONE














BUSINESS PROCESS OF VODAFONE:-
Vodafone outsource their post paid sales through DSA and DST.
DST- DIRECT SALES TEAM
DSA-DIRECT SALES AGENT
The DSA and the DSTs have similar functions and process of
working but they differ on some grounds. These are:
In case of DST, the employee strength is more in comparison to
DSA as the infrastructure of DSTs are far better than DSA.
In case of DST, expenses such as salary for staff, mobile bills and
incentives of telecallers and sales executives up to a specified
CEO
SALES &
MARKETING
FINANCE &
COMMERCIAL
HR/ADMIN IT TECHNICAL CUSTOMER
SERVICE
PRE PAID
POST PAID RETAIL
MBO DSA/DST VODAFONE
STORES
13

limit, welfare expenses, electricity, maintenance, telephone bills,
rent, internet connections, stationery, tax such as profession tax
etc are borne by the company. But in case of DSA, no expense is
borne by the company. Sometimes only a lump sum amount is
paid. i.e., the DST receives the expenses and also commission on
the number of connections given but DSA receives only the
commission.
In case of DST, the salary of the staff is fixed and also incentives
are provided. Here targets are specified by Vodafone. In case of
DSA the salary of staff is not fixed. Sometimes only a certain part
is fixed and the rest depends on commission. Here targets may
not be specified.
BUSINESS PROCESS OF DSA AND DST
The DSA and DST works for increasing the number of Post paid
connections in some specified areas of Kolkata and West Bengal.
All DSA and DSTs maintain a particular ratio of Sales Executives
and Tele callers. The target customers are Vodafone prepaid,
Airtel, BSNL, Reliance, and TATA Indicom- both postpaid and
prepaid.
The database of the customers is acquired by exchanging data or
calling up customers who took a Vodafone connection long ago
and may not be using the same now. The telecallers call up those
persons and try to convince the customer over the phone by
speaking about the tariff plans and added advantage, he would
have against the competitor plan. If the customer becomes
convinced, the telecallers notes down his billing and residential
address.
The Document Collection Boys (DOC) boys are sent to fill the
forms and to collect the payment which is intimated to the
customer over the phone by the telecallers. In case of Vodafone
Prepaid to Postpaid, Rs 300 is to be paid and in case of Vodafone
New connection, Rs 500 is to be paid. The Proof of Identity and
Proof of Address are the two most important documents to be
14

submitted by the customer. After the DOC boys collects the
information, relevant documents and the amount, the telecallers
has to call the customer and inform him that his documents and
his amount are received so as the customer is aware of the
Vodafone Connection.
If the telecallers are not able to convince, they fix an
appointment with them. After this the Corporate Sales Officer
and the Marketing Research Executive are responsible for visiting
the customer and trying to convince him. They also carry out cold
calling i.e., knocking at a house or office and try to convince
them. He has to make 2-3 visits so as to get the order. In the
second or third visit, he fills up the required form, collects the
documents and the amount. Two most important forms are
Customer Agreement Form and Customer Information Form.
After the MRE or the CSO brings the required documents and
filled up forms, the telecallers informs about the connection being
taken and other details are verified.
After that, the Business Manager checks all the details and the
forms are to be signed by the CSM and the Franchisor. Then with
the help of I-POS, these forms are digitally logged into the
system. It is Registered Logging.
After the forms reach the Vodafone Office, the same is sent for
verification. First telephone verification takes place and then a
physical verification occurs. After the verification results are
positive, the same is uploaded for activation. The Activation
Offices are in Hazara and DLF centre. From there the connection
is activated and the customer becomes a Vodafone Postpaid
holder.
The DSA and the DSTs are responsible for retention of the
customers up to 60 days. So they have to constantly in touch
with them so as to ensure that the customer is using the phone
and regular bills are paid. The bill is raised on specific dates
which are 1
st
, 6
th
, 13
th
and 27
th
of each month. If this doesnt
happen, then SAME MONTH DEACTIVATION (SMD) takes place.
15

Same Month Deactivation may take place due to varied reasons:
1. Miscommitment by the Telecallers or the Sales Executive.
2. Bill higher than expected.
3. Old outstanding in another account.
4. Phone and SIM lost.
5. Not receiving the bill regularly or not received on weekdays, so
becomes unpaid.
6. Customer is out of station
7. Non usage of the Vodafone Postpaid Connection
8. Delay in providing connection i.e. too much time taken for
verification
9. Old outstanding in another account
10. Credit Monitoring Barring
11. Using too many connections
12. Deactivation due to SIM used by another person/relative
13. Competition plans
14. Employees leaving the job







16



CHAPTER 2

(RESEARCH OBJECTIVE AND RESEARCH METHODOLOGY)



















17

RESEARCH OBJECTIVE:-
The Research Objective is to find out the reasons of customers switching over
to other service providers from Vodafone so as to determine the loopholes in the
system and take necessary actions for improvement.
The various parameters which were covered were:
To find out the most important reasons for SMD.
To find out the customers of which talk plan has mostly switched over.
To find out the percentage of people who has paid the bills and left.
To find out that people leaving Vodafone Postpaid has moved to which plan.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY:-
My research type is descriptive cross sectional. My Research comprised of
roughly 90% Primary data and 10% Secondary data. For Primary Data
collection I basically first did an Observation. Then I surveyed my sampling
units through a questionnaire. After that I conducted a personal interview
through phone as well as visited the customers individually. For Secondary Data
I took the help of Internet and other journals.
The need assessment was done by critically observing the Business process,
transactions of Vodafone .Information about the customers who are in SMD are
gathered from the DSA and DST. Personal Interview was conducted to validate
the results of the information gathered through the Questionnaire. After
observing each customers SMD reason the reasons are segregated and divided
in various strata and identified the prime reasons for SMD. Based on these
reasons various analysis were made in comparison to other attributes like tariff
plans, payment or non payment, other competitors plan etc. This would help to
understand the reasons for SMD better and the customers can be provided with
better solutions and Vodafone will be aware of the reasons of SMD.
Sampling plan:
Sampling Unit: My sampling unit comprised of all the customers which have
been listed as Same Month Deactivation customers.
18

Sample Size: My total sample size was 180 customers.
Sampling Technique
Clustered Sampling.
Span of the project:-
My project duration was from 1
st
of June to 30

June 2008(1 month).














19



CHAPTER 3

(ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS)

















20

ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS
We visited various subscribers which were listed in Same Month Deactivation.
We also made calls and tried to find out the following:
The reasons which are responsible for Same Month Deactivation.
The subscribers who have left Vodafone belong to which talk plan.
The percentage of subscribers who has left Vodafone for some definite
reasons has paid the bills and left or not.
The subscribers leaving Vodafone Postpaid have moved to which plan or
service provider.
The subscriber who left the Vodafone connection was given the
connection Free of Cost (FOC) or non Free of Cost(non-FOC).

We had a sample size of 180 subscribers who has moved out of Vodafone
Postpaid. The data was collected from the DSA and DST. The DSA and DST
which provided us the relevant data were:
SKYNET (DST)
DIGITAL BEES (DSA)
SANTANU DAS (DSA)
M.B. ENTERPRISE (DSA)
The eight most important reasons which contribute to Same Month Deactivation
are as follows:
1. Miscommitment by the Telecallers or the Sales Executive.
2. Old outstanding in another account.
3. Bill higher than expected.
4. Phone and SIM lost.
5. Employees leaving the job, so disconnected.
21

6. Customer was out of station, so not able to make payment and line is
deactivated.
7. Non usage of the Vodafone Post paid Connection or SIM used by
another person.
8. OTHER REASONS:
I. Delay in providing connection i.e. too much time taken for verification
II. Changed billing address.
III. Credit Monitoring Barring.
IV. Using too many connections.
V. Not receiving the bill regularly or not received on weekdays, so becomes
unpaid.
The various reasons for SMD are described as follows:-
1) Miscommitment by the Telecallers or the Sales Executive.
The Miscommitment happens on the part of DSAs, DSTs and verification depts.
which customers interprets as a Miscommitment by Vodafone. We have found
various reasons as:-
The sales executive does not provide the sim to the customer even after
he submits the documents and the deposits.

Customer was promised to provide a particular plan and later he got a
different plan about which the customer is not aware.

Customer was promised to be provided free calls and free connections but
later he was asked to pay money for that.


Sometimes the sales executives forcibly gives a connection to the
customer to fulfil his target which the customer doesnt use later.

The customer wants to activate the connection from a different date but
the connection was activated in another date.
22

The customer was asked for so many documents even after he got the
connection by the verification depts. because of which the customer get
irritated.

Delay in providing the connection to the customer.

Customers line is not activated but still receiving the bill.

The customer wants a CUG connection but was provided an individual
connection.

Tariff plans were misinterpreted.

Tele callers harass the customer by asking for different documents and
payments frequently.

The customer gets the sim but his line is not activated even after he
submits all the documents and deposits.

The customer is given a post paid connection by saying them that its a
prepaid connection.

2) Old outstanding in another account:-
The customer has an outstanding in his old account or in another existing
account of Vodafone account. So his line is disconnected after he used it
for someday. But the customer is not aware of his account.

The customer gets the bill for his previous account but he cannot identify
the account from where the bill has come. When the customer asked for
his bill details he doesnot receive anything.

The customers payment check is bounced but he is not aware of it. So he
his outstanding increased.

3) Bill higher than expected:-
The customer is miscommunicated about the tariff plan so he receives a
bill which is higher than his expectations.

23

The customer cannot afford to pay the bill amount as his credit
worthiness is wrongly judged.

The bill detail the customer receives is wrong. He found in the bill some
number to which he never made a call.

Financial problem of the customer.

4) Phone and SIM lost:-
The customer lost his sim or phone or both. He never apply for the sim
again.

Vodafone doesnot provide another sim to the customer in that same
connection for which the sim is lost.

5) Customer was out of station, so not able to make payment and line is
deactivated:-
The customer is out of station later he found his no is barred. This is
because he could not pay the bill or he doesnot find a bill deposit centre.

6) Employees leaving the job, so disconnected:-
Employees left the job or switch to another job or transferred to another
place for which he left the connection. These connection includes both
CUG and individual connection.

The company dissolved so all the CUG connection are disconnected.

The company does not pay the bill or doesnot provide the promised credit
limit to the customer.

7) Non usage of the Vodafone Postpaid Connection:-
The customer doesnot use his sim because he was given the connection
forcibly which he never wanted.

The sim is used by customers relative or friend.
24

8) Delay in providing connection i.e. too much time taken for
verification:-
The verification team doesnot meet the customer, So they passed the
report that the person is not available and doesnot activate the line.

The verification teams wants so many documents even after the customer
submitted all the documents.


The longer time taken by verification dept. in the mean time competitors
provide him a connection in a short period of time.

9) Changed billing address:-
The customer shifted to another place so his bill address changes. The
customer doesnot inform about it to Vodafone. So he doesnot receive his
bill.

The customer gives wrong billing address in his form.

The customer left the place permanently.

10) Credit Monitoring Barring:-
The customer is not aware of his credit limit or he used more than his
credit limit.

The bill is paid after due date.

The customer is not aware about his bill date.

11) Using too many connections:-
The customer already have too many connection so he left the connection
after using.
Because of too many connections he cannot use the Vodafone connection
properly.

25

12) Not receiving the bill regularly or not received on weekdays, so
becomes unpaid:-
The customer doesnot receive the bill regularly due to various reasons
like Miscommitment by the bill delivery people or due to distant billing
address he doesnot receive it on time.

The company gets bill on Sundays when the office is closed due to which
the cannot pay the bill regularly

The segment wise break up of 180 subscribers with reasons who are listed
as SAME MONTH DEACTIVATION are:
Miscommitment by the Telecallers or the Sales Executive. 45
Old outstanding in another account. 26
Bill higher than expected. 23
Phone and SIM lost. 13
Employees leaving the job, so disconnected. 13
Customer was out of station, so not able to make payment
and line is deactivated. 11
Non usage of the Vodafone Postpaid Connection. 10
OTHER REASONS
Delay in providing connection i.e. too much time taken for
verification 9
Changed billing address. 6
Credit Monitoring Barring. 7
Using too many connections. 5
Not receiving the bill regularly or not received on
weekdays, so becomes unpaid. 4

26



The main reasons for Same Month Deactivation with the figures are:
Miscommitment by the Telecallers or the Sales Executive. 45
Old outstanding in another account. 26
Bill higher than expected. 23
Phone and SIM lost. 13
Employees leaving the job, so disconnected. 13
Customer was out of station, so not able to make payment
and line is deactivated. 11
Non usage of the Vodafone Postpaid Connection. 10



27





Percentage break up of the main reasons from the overall total 180
subscribers attributing to Same Month Deactivation

Miscommitment by the Telecallers or the Sales Executive. 25%
Old outstanding in another account. 14.40%
Bill higher than expected. 13.00%
Phone and SIM lost. 7.20%
Employees leaving the job, so disconnected. 7.20%
Customer was out of station, so not able to make payment and
line is deactivated. 6.10%
Non usage of the Vodafone Postpaid Connection. 6%




28





Now the subscribers take up different talk plans on the basis of their :
Suitability
Affordability
Usage value in terms of number of minutes of usage, maximum numbers
called either to Vodafone or other Service Providers.
To get the maximum Airtime on the particular talk plan.
Roaming facilities required.






29

The Talk Plans used within the particular reason for Same Month
Deactivation reveals the following results:
1. Miscommitment by the Telecallers or the Sales Executive.
The talk plans which were used by the subscribers along with the total
number of subscribers who were generally miscommited or
miscommunicated by the telecallers and sales executive are:
TALK PLANS NUMBER OF SUBSCRIBERS
NEW TALK 299 17
NEW TALK 299 CORP. 6
NEW TALK 199 7
FUll VALUE TALK 199 4
M 249 4
ADD ON RATE PLAN 175 2
CUG 199 M 3
NEW TALK 199 CORP. 1
GROUP LINK(CUG) LVL-2 1
TOTAL 45


The above graph shows that to push new talk 299 plan the sales
executives or the telecaller miscommunicate and misinterpret with the
customers about the plan. The rate of miscommitment is higher in this
plan compared to other plans. Therefore the customer become dis
satisfied and leave the connection.

30

2. Old outstanding in another account.
The talk plans which were used by the subscribers who had an
outstanding account or the subscribers whose line was deactivated within
a few days even without the subscriber knowing the exact reasons are:
TALK PLANS NUMBER OF SUBSCRIBERS
NEW TALK 299 12
M 249 3
NEW TALK 199 3
FULL VALUE TALK 199 2
NEW FULL VALUE 299 2
NEW TALK 399 2
CUG 199 M 1
NEW TALK 349 CUG K 1
TOTAL 26


The above graph shows that the highest no of customer whose line was
disconnected for having an outstanding amount in his another conection of
vodafone used new talk 299 plan.

3. Bill higher than expected.
The talk plans which were used by the subscribers whose bill amount was
higher than they had expected to be due to miscommunication by the
telecallers and the sales executive or proper plan being not provided are:

31

TALK PLANS NUMBER OF SUBSCRIBERS
NEW TALK 299 11
NEW FULL VALUE 299 3
NEW TALK 199 3
M 249 3
FULL VALUE TALK 199 1
FULL VALUE TALK 399 1
NEW TALK 444 1
TOTAL 23


The graph shows that the customers whose line was disconnected because his
bill was higher that expected according to him was in new talk 299 plan. This
shows that the sales executives did not provided the customer the proper plan
according to his use, talk time and ability to pay.
4. Phone and SIM lost.
The talk plans which were used by the subscribers whose phone was lost
or SIM was lost after they took the Vodafone Postpaid connection are:
TALK PLANS NUMBER OF SUBSCRIBERS
NEW TALK 299 5
CUG 199 M 2
SPECIAL 399 WITH 1000 MIN VF2VF 1
FULL VALUE TALK 199 1
NEW TALK 199 1
NEW TALK 299 CORP. 1
OTR 1
SPECIAL 399 WITH 1000 MIN VF2VF 1
TOTAL 13
32



5. Employees leaving the job, so disconnected.
The talk plans which were used by the subscribers who took the
connection and was added mostly to the CUG plans and discontinued
because of leaving the job or after the employee left, the bill was not paid
by the Company are:
TALK PLANS NUMBER OF SUBSCRIBERS
NEW TALK 299 CORP 7
CUG 199 M 3
NEW TALK 299 1
NEW FULL VALUE 299 1
NEW TALK 349 CUG K 1
TOTAL 13



33

6. Customer was out of station, so not able to make payment and line is
deactivated.
The talk plans which were used by the subscribers who took the
connection but went out of station and the line was deactivated due to non
usage or non payment are:
TALK PLANS NUMBER OF SUBSCRIBERS
NEW TALK 299 3
NEW TALK 199 3
NEW TALK 399 3
FULL VALUE TALK 199 1
NEW FULL VALUE 299 1
TOTAL 11


7. Non usage of the Vodafone Postpaid Connection or SIM used by
another person
The talk plans which were used by the subscribers who took the
connection but didnt use it because they were being forcefully given or
have done mercy selling or are already using Vodafone Postpaid
Connection are:
TALK PLANS NUMBER OF SUBSCRIBERS
NEW TALK 299 3
M 249 2
FULL VALUE TALK 199 @ Re1 2
NEW FULL VALUE 299 1
NEW TALK 349 CUG K 1
CUG 199 M 1
TOTAL 10
34



8. OTHER REASONS:
(a) Delay in providing connection i.e. too much time taken for verification
The talk plans which were used by the subscribers who took the
connection but were not activated as proper documents were not provided so,
caused delay in verification. Also due to delay, the subscribers left the
connection or didnt use are:
TALK PLANS NUMBER OF SUBSCRIBERS
GROUP TALK 174 2
NEW FULL VALUE 299 2
NEW TALK 299 1
NEW TALK 199 1
NEW TALK 199 CORP 1
ADD ON RATE PLAN1 1
ENTRY PLAN TALK 64 1
TOTAL 9

35


(b) Changed billing address.
The talk plans which were used by the subscribers who took the
connection but changed the billing address and the same was not intimated to
Vodafone or the verification results after the new address didnt come out to be
positive are:
TALK PLANS NUMBER OF SUBSCRIBERS
FULL VALUE TALK 199 4
NEW FULL VALUE 299 1
NEW TALK 299 CORP 1
TOTAL 6




36

(c) Credit Monitoring Barring.
The talk plans which were used by the subscribers who took the
connection but due to non payment or credit limit exceeding the
minimum were disconnected are:
TALK PLANS NUMBER OF SUBSCRIBERS
NEW TALK 199 1
NEW TALK 299 1
M 249 1
NEW FULL VALUE 299 1
NEW TALK 299 CORP 1
FULL VALUE TALK 199 @ Re1 1
FULL VALUE 400 1
TOTAL 7








37

(d) Using too many connections.
The talk plans which were used by the subscribers who took the
connections due to forcefully given or for some work and discontinued
later as they already have many other connections are:
TALK PLANS NUMBER OF SUBSCRIBERS
NEW TALK 299 2
NEW TALK 199 2
FULL VALUE TALK 399 1
TOTAL 5










38

(e) Not receiving the bill regularly or not received on weekdays, so
becomes unpaid.
The talk plans which were used by the subscribers who took the
connection but discontinued it because of non receipt of regular bills or
bills received on weekends when the establishment is closed are:
TALK PLANS NUMBER OF SUBSCRIBERS
NEW TALK 299 CORP 2
FCT CORP 1099 1
NEW TALK 399 1
TOTAL 4











39

COMPARISON BETWEEN REASONS OF SMD AND NEW TALK 299
PLAN
Since in the above cases, we can see that the Talk Plan of 299 is mostly
preferred by the subscribers and for this the reasons for SMD has been
compared with the New Talk 299 or New Talk 299 Corp. The chart which
specifies the comparison between reasons for SMD and the New Talk 299 plan
has been summarised as follows:
REASONS FOR SAME MONTH DEACTIVATION
NO OF
SUBSCRIBERS
NEW TALK 299
PLAN
1
Miscommitment by the Telecallers or
the Sales Executive. 45 23
2 Old outstanding in another account. 26 12
3 Bill higher than expected. 23 11
4 Phone and SIM lost. 13 6
5
Employees leaving the job, so
disconnected. 13 8
6
Customer was out of station, so not
able to make payment and line is
deactivated. 11 3
7
Non usage of the Vodafone Postpaid
Connection. 10 3

8
Delay in providing connection i.e. too
much time taken for verification 9 1
9 Changed billing address. 6 1
1
0 Credit Monitoring Barring. 7 1
1
1 Using too many connections. 5 2
1
2
Not receiving the bill regularly or not
received on weekdays, so becomes
unpaid. 4 2

40


The above graph shows the number of subscribers who have been listed as
Same Month Deactivation subscribers and their relation to the talk plan- New
Talk 299 Plan. It is found that most of the subscribers prefer this plan as it is
much more compatible in comparison to other plans.
This plan is mostly talked about by the Sales executives to the customers as it
has some advantages. At 299 rent, if the minutes of usage is increased, this plan
is very much suitable. i.e at 1000 minutes of usage, it renders a bill of Rs
679+tax component. Although the Airtime provided is less, the customers can
be pleaded on the bill amount which is not available in any other plan.
Here it is found that, Miscommitment by the telecallers and sales executives
account for the highest share of this plan which indicates that some sort of
miscommunication takes place while making a customer understand about the
tariff details and other added advantages of the plan. The least share is hold by
delay in providing connection, changed bill address and credit monitoring
barring.
Also it is found that major SMD share is held by this plan which indicates that
some bottlenecks is there in this plan which needs to be rectified so as there is
less turnover of customers from this plan.
41

The various plan in which the SMD subscribers have moved into after
leaving Vodafone or are using the same Service Provider before taking
Vodafone Postpaid within the reasons for SMD are as follows:

1. Miscommitment by the Telecallers or the Sales Executive.
PRESENTLY USING NO.OF SUBSCRIBERS
VODAFONE PREPAID 9
VODAFONE POSTPAID 14
AIRTEL PREPAID 7
AIRTEL POSTPAID 7
RELIANCE PREPAID 0
RELIANCE POSTPAID 2
TATA INDICOM 2
BSNL PREPAID 1
BSNL POSTPAID 2
AIRTEL POSTPAID + RELIANCE POSTPAID 1
TOTAL 45






42

2. Old outstanding in another account.
PRESENTLY USING NO.OF SUBSCRIBERS
VODAFONE PREPAID 6
VODAFONE POSTPAID 1
AIRTEL PREPAID 7
AIRTEL POSTPAID 7
RELIANCE PREPAID 1
RELIANCE POSTPAID 1
TATA INDICOM 1
BSNL PREPAID 0
BSNL POSTPAID 2
TOTAL 26









43

3. Bill higher than expected.


PRESENTLY USING NO.OF SUBSCRIBERS
VODAFONE PREPAID 9
VODAFONE POSTPAID 3
AIRTEL PREPAID 5
AIRTEL POSTPAID 2
RELIANCE PREPAID 0
RELIANCE POSTPAID 1
TATA INDICOM 2
BSNL PREPAID 0
BSNL POSTPAID 0
VODAFONE PREPAID + POSTPAID 1
TOTAL 23







44

4. Phone and SIM lost.


PRESENTLY USING NO.OF SUBSCRIBERS
VODAFONE PREPAID 4
VODAFONE POSTPAID 4
AIRTEL PREPAID 3
AIRTEL POSTPAID 1
RELIANCE PREPAID 0
RELIANCE POSTPAID 1
TATA INDICOM 0
BSNL PREPAID 0
BSNL POSTPAID 0
TOTAL 13







45

5. Employees leaving the job, so disconnected.


PRESENTLY USING NO.OF SUBSCRIBERS
VODAFONE PREPAID 2
VODAFONE POSTPAID 3
AIRTEL PREPAID 4
AIRTEL POSTPAID 2
RELIANCE PREPAID 0
RELIANCE POSTPAID 0
TATA INDICOM 0
BSNL PREPAID 0
BSNL POSTPAID 1
VODAFONE PREPAID + POSTPAID 1
TOTAL 13






46

6. Customer was out of station, so not able to make payment and line is
deactivated.


PRESENTLY USING NO.OF SUBSCRIBERS
VODAFONE PREPAID 4
VODAFONE POSTPAID 1
AIRTEL PREPAID 3
AIRTEL POSTPAID 1
RELIANCE PREPAID 0
RELIANCE POSTPAID 0
TATA INDICOM 2
BSNL PREPAID 0
BSNL POSTPAID 0
TOTAL 11






47

7. Non usage of the Vodafone Postpaid Connection or SIM used by
another person.


PRESENTLY USING NO.OF SUBSCRIBERS
VODAFONE PREPAID 6
VODAFONE POSTPAID 2
AIRTEL PREPAID 2
AIRTEL POSTPAID 0
RELIANCE PREPAID 0
RELIANCE POSTPAID 0
TATA INDICOM 0
BSNL PREPAID 0
BSNL POSTPAID 0
TOTAL 10






48

8. OTHER REASONS:
(a) Delay in providing connection i.e. too much time taken for verification


PRESENTLY USING NO.OF SUBSCRIBERS
VODAFONE PREPAID 3
VODAFONE POSTPAID 1
AIRTEL PREPAID 0
AIRTEL POSTPAID 3
RELIANCE PREPAID 0
RELIANCE POSTPAID 0
TATA INDICOM 1
BSNL PREPAID 0
BSNL POSTPAID 0
AIRTEL PREPAID+VODAFONE POSTPAID 1
TOTAL 9





49

(b) Changed billing address.


PRESENTLY USING NO.OF SUBSCRIBERS
VODAFONE PREPAID 5
VODAFONE POSTPAID 0
AIRTEL PREPAID 0
AIRTEL POSTPAID 0
RELIANCE PREPAID 0
RELIANCE POSTPAID 0
TATA INDICOM 0
BSNL PREPAID 0
BSNL POSTPAID 1
TOTAL 6







50

(c) Credit Monitoring Barring.


PRESENTLY USING NO.OF SUBSCRIBERS
VODAFONE PREPAID 6
VODAFONE POSTPAID 1
AIRTEL PREPAID 0
AIRTEL POSTPAID 0
RELIANCE PREPAID 0
RELIANCE POSTPAID 0
TATA INDICOM 0
BSNL PREPAID 0
BSNL POSTPAID 0
TOTAL 7







51

(d) Using too many connections.


PRESENTLY USING NO.OF SUBSCRIBERS
VODAFONE PREPAID 0
VODAFONE POSTPAID 1
AIRTEL PREPAID 0
AIRTEL POSTPAID 0
RELIANCE PREPAID 0
RELIANCE POSTPAID 1
TATA INDICOM 0
BSNL PREPAID 2
BSNL POSTPAID 1
TOTAL 5







52

(e) Not receiving the bill regularly or not received on weekdays, so
becomes unpaid.


PRESENTLY USING NO.OF SUBSCRIBERS
VODAFONE PREPAID 2
VODAFONE POSTPAID 1
AIRTEL PREPAID 0
AIRTEL POSTPAID 1
RELIANCE PREPAID 0
RELIANCE POSTPAID 0
TATA INDICOM 0
BSNL PREPAID 0
BSNL POSTPAID 0
TOTAL 4






53

From the above Plans which are used by the subscribers who falls within the
reasons for SMD, it can be clearly stated that Vodafone and Airtel enjoys a
larger part of the market share in comparison to other competitors. Mostly the
subscribers who switch over from Vodafone Postpaid, moves to Vodafone
Prepaid or Airtel Postpaid and Prepaid.

COMPARISON BETWEEN VODAFONE PREPAID AND AIRTEL
PREPAID ON THE BASIS OF REASONS OF SMD
REASONS FOR SAME MONTH
DEACTIVATION
NO OF
SUBSCRIBERS
VODAFONE
PREPAID
AIRTEL
PREPAID
Miscommitment by the
Telecallers or the Sales Executive. 45 9 7
Old outstanding in another
account. 26 6 7
Bill higher than expected. 23 9 5
Phone and SIM lost. 13 4 3
Employees leaving the job, so
disconnected. 13 2 4
Customer was out of station, so
not able to make payment and line
is deactivated. 11 4 3
Non usage of the Vodafone
Postpaid Connection. 10 6 2

Delay in providing connection i.e.
too much time taken for
verification 9 3 0
Changed billing address. 6 5 0
Credit Monitoring Barring. 7 6 0
Using too many connections. 5 0 0
Not receiving the bill regularly or
not received on weekdays, so
becomes unpaid. 4 2 0

54



This graph shows the comparison between Vodafone Prepaid and Airtel Prepaid
on the basis of the reasons for SMD.
It is seen that Vodafone comprises a major share of the market in comparison to
Airtel and it is the largest telecommunications provider in Kolkata. It can also
be seen that the customers switching over to Vodafone Prepaid or existing
customers who prefer to stay in Vodafone Prepaid is more in case of
Miscommunication by the telecallers and sales executive and Bill higher
than expected. In the first case, there may be customers who are loyal to their
brand Vodafone and prefer prepaid instead of postpaid. Due to the network
connectivity of Vodafone, people prefer to stay in Vodafone but the market for
Vodafone Prepaid seems to be more than Vodafone Postpaid.
In the second case, where Vodafone Prepaid subscribers are more in case of
Bill higher than expected, it can be justified that customers prefer Prepaid to
Postpaid as their expectations of bills are not met as compared to the tariff plans
given to them. Also in most cases Postpaid cannot be used by persons who are
55

financially unsound and thus they are unable to pay the required bill in
comparison to the usage done.
Also, Airtel Prepaid subscribers are more in case of Miscommunication by the
telecallers and sales executives and Old Outstanding in another account.
Sometimes miscommunication or improper means used to sell Vodafone
Postpaid connections to subscribers may lead the subscriber to lose faith in
Vodafone and switch over to Airtel. Also some customers may be annoyed
about the tariff plans being taken and the bill received is too high or it may
happen that the SIM was activated late. In such circumstances, Airtel may add
value and gain those customers.
In case of Old Outstanding in another account, the verification team sends a
negative request in which the line is never activated. So such customers have no
option other than to switch over to Vodafone Prepaid or Airtel as in most cases
the customer denies of having an old outstanding account and also doesnt pay
the bill.












56

COMPARISON BETWEEN VODAFONE POSTPAID AND AIRTEL
POST PAID ON THE BASIS OF REASONS OF SMD

REASONS FOR SAME MONTH
DEACTIVATION
NO OF
SUBSCRIBERS
VODAFONE
POSTPAID
AIRTEL
POSTPAID
Miscommitment by the
Telecallers or the Sales Executive. 45 14 7
Old outstanding in another
account. 26 1 7
Bill higher than expected. 23 3 2
Phone and SIM lost. 13 4 1
Employees leaving the job, so
disconnected. 13 3 2
Customer was out of station, so
not able to make payment and
line is deactivated. 11 1 1
Non usage of the Vodafone
Postpaid Connection. 10 2 0

Delay in providing connection i.e.
too much time taken for
verification 9 1 3
Changed billing address. 6 0 0
Credit Monitoring Barring. 7 1 0
Using too many connections. 5 1 0
Not receiving the bill regularly or
not received on weekdays, so
becomes unpaid. 4 1 1



57


This graph shows the relation between the reasons for SMD and existing or
newly switch over connections of Vodafone Postpaid and Airtel Postpaid.
The graph indicates that Vodafone Postpaid has a larger share in comparison to
Airtel Postpaid.
In the case of Miscommitment, the Vodafone Postpaid connections are higher
because there are many customers who are already using Vodafone Postpaid
Connections and still they are approached for the same. Also there are many
customers who are approached saying that it is a Vodafone Prepaid Connection
and afterwards it is known that it is a Postpaid Connection.
In case of Airtel, it has Airtel Postpaid connections mostly in case of
Miscommunication and Old Outstanding in another account. This is
because the subscriber who is already having an Airtel Postpaid Connection
may take a Vodafone Connection thinking it to be a Vodafone Prepaid
Connection or the bill details may not match the tariff proposed for. This is
also because whenever the customers have an old outstanding account , they
cannot be issued new connections. So they switch over to Airtel as it is the
second best service provider in Kolkata in terms of tariff and service.
58

No of subscribers which are in new talk 299 plan can be
categorized into the following service providers they are using
new talk 299 NO.OF SUBSCRIBERS
VODAFONE PREPAID 21
VODAFONE POSTPAID 21
AIRTEL PREPAID 16
AIRTEL POSTPAID 8
RELIANCE PREPAID 0
RELIANCE POSTPAID 4
TATA INDICOM 5
BSNL PREPAID 0
BSNL POSTPAID 4


59

The above graph shows that the no of customers who switch over to other
connections from new talk 299 are using Vodafone prepaid and postpaid
presently. So Vodafones market capture is still higher than other service
providers where Airtel stands in 2
nd
position.
Payment or non payment of bills after the Same Month Deactivation
takes place.
1. Miscommitment by the Telecallers or the Sales Executive.
Total Subscribers: 45
Paid the bill and left: 14
Non payment of bill: 31
Highest unpaid bill amount: Rs.1343.22
2. Old outstanding in another account.
Total Subscribers: 26
Paid the bill and left: 8
Non payment of bill: 18
Highest unpaid bill amount: 325.56
3. Bill higher than expected.
Total Subscribers: 23
Paid the bill and left: 6
Non payment of bill: 17
Highest unpaid bill amount: 1497.06
4. Phone and SIM lost.
Total Subscribers: 13
Paid the bill and left: 4
Non payment of bill: 9
60

Highest unpaid bill amount: 897.90
5. Employees leaving the job, so disconnected.
Total Subscribers: 13
Paid the bill and left: 2
Non payment of bill: 11
Highest unpaid bill amount: 2159.17
6. Customer was out of station, so not able to make payment and line is
deactivated.
Total Subscribers: 11
Paid the bill and left: 2
Non payment of bill: 9
Highest unpaid bill amount: 1791.07
7. Non usage of the Vodafone Postpaid Connection or SIM used by
another person.
Total Subscribers: 10
Paid the bill and left: 3
Non payment of bill: 7
Highest unpaid bill amount: 752.76
8. OTHER REASONS:
(a) Delay in providing connection i.e. too much time taken for verification.
Total Subscribers: 9
Paid the bill and left: 4
Non payment of bill: 5
Highest unpaid bill amount: 239.10
61

(b) Changed billing address.
Total Subscribers: 6
Paid the bill and left: 3
Non payment of bill: 3
Highest unpaid bill amount: 1309.61
(c) Credit Monitoring Barring.
Total Subscribers: 7
Paid the bill and left: 3
Non payment of bill: 4
Highest unpaid bill amount: 909.99
(d) Using too many connections.
Total Subscribers: 5
Paid the bill and left: 1
Non payment of bill: 4
Highest unpaid bill amount: 1474.15
(e) Not receiving the bill regularly or not received on weekdays, so
becomes unpaid.
Total Subscribers: 4
Paid the bill and left: 0
Non payment of bill: 4
Highest unpaid bill amount: 2091.67


62

COMPARISON BETWEEN REASONS OF SMD AND HIGHEST
UNPAID BILL AMOUNT

REASONS FOR SAME MONTH DEACTIVATION
HIGHEST UNPAID
BILL AMOUNT
Miscommitment by the Telecallers or the Sales
Executive. 1343.22
Old outstanding in another account. 325.56
Bill higher than expected. 1497.06
Phone and SIM lost. 897.9
Employees leaving the job, so disconnected. 2159.17
Customer was out of station, so not able to
make payment and line is deactivated. 1791.07
Non usage of the Vodafone Postpaid
Connection. 752.76

Delay in providing connection i.e. too much
time taken for verification 239.1
Changed billing address. 1309.61
Credit Monitoring Barring. 909.99
Using too many connections. 1474.15
Not receiving the bill regularly or not received
on weekdays, so becomes unpaid. 2091.67

63


This graph shows the relation between the reasons of Vodafone SMD and
highest unpaid bill amount in each category.
This shows that the highest unpaid bill amount was Rs. 2159.17, which
was in the case of Employees leaving the job or Company. Whenever a
CUG is given to a particular company and also any person is added on to
the list, the verification needs to be strictly maintained. The employees
data base needs to be checked properly so as to assure that his turnover is
low and if he maintains a high turn over in case of jobs, then he needs to
be given a lower credit limit. This could help to solve the problems
relating to Credit Monitoring Barring.
The second case of High Bill unpaid is in the case of Bill not received
regularly. Therefore strict measures are needed to be taken so as to ensure
that bills are deposited on weekdays in case of offices so as to ensure
mobility of bill payment.

64

REASONS FOR SAME MONTH
DEACTIVATION
NO OF
SUBSCRIBERS
PAID THE
BILL
NOT PAID
THE BILL
Miscommitment by the
Telecallers or the Sales Executive. 45 14 31
Old outstanding in another
account. 26 8 18
Bill higher than expected. 23 6 17
Phone and SIM lost. 13 4 9
Employees leaving the job, so
disconnected. 13 2 9
Customer was out of station, so
not able to make payment and line
is deactivated. 11 2 9
Non usage of the Vodafone
Postpaid Connection. 10 3 7

Delay in providing connection i.e.
too much time taken for
verification 9 4 5
Changed billing address. 6 3 3
Credit Monitoring Barring. 7 3 4
Using too many connections. 5 1 4
Not receiving the bill regularly or
not received on weekdays, so
becomes unpaid. 4 0 4







65


This graph shows the comparison between the reasons of SMD and total
number of subscribers and the customers who have paid the bill and who
havent paid.
Here we can see that in maximum cases, the bill has not been paid. We can see
that only in the case of Changed billing address, there is an equal ratio of
subscribers who have paid and are unpaid. This is because in most cases even if
the subscribers change the address, most of them pay the bill as they are loyal to
Vodafone and want to continue the connection.
In case of Bill not received regularly, there is no paid subscriber. This is
because many subscribers are of the view that bill needs to be received on their
address regularly and in case of office it should be received on weekdays other
than Sundays. In case of non receipt of bill, it becomes difficult for the
subscribers to pay the bills on time as they remain unaware about their bills.




66

COMPARISON BETWEEN REASONS OF SMD AND THE NO OF
FREE OF COST CUSTOMERS AND NON FREE OF COST
CUSTOMERS
Free of cost customers are those customers who got the connection for
free since he already uses a Vodafone connection.
REASONS FOR SAME MONTH
DEACTIVATION
NO OF
SUBSCRIBERS FOC NON FOC
Miscommitment by the
Telecallers or the Sales Executive. 45 34 11
Old outstanding in another
account. 26 16 10
Bill higher than expected. 23 16 7
Phone and SIM lost. 13 11 2
Employees leaving the job, so
disconnected. 13 10 3
Customer was out of station, so
not able to make payment and line
is deactivated. 11 9 2
Non usage of the Vodafone
Postpaid Connection. 10 10 0
Delay in providing connection i.e.
too much time taken for
verification 9 9 0
Changed billing address. 6 5 1
Credit Monitoring Barring. 7 5 2
Using too many connections. 5 4 1
Not receiving the bill regularly or
not received on weekdays, so
becomes unpaid. 4 3 1


67



The above graph shows that the no of FOC customers are more than the
no of NON FOC customers. The graph shows that the customers who are
provided with a FOC connection does not used the connection. So all the
non usage of Vodafone connections are FOC connections.
Whenever there is a delay in providing a connection the customer the
customer was unable to use his FOC connections. So are transferred to
SMD.







68



CHAPTER 4

(SUGGESTIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS)



















69

SUGGESTIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

From my analysis I found that 25% SMD cases are because of
Miscommitment by the sales executives and telecallers. So far this is the
major reason for SMD compared to old outstanding 14.40% and bill
higher than expectation 13% respectively.

The DSA and DSTs must employ better skilled personnel as sales
executives and telecallers and give them better training so that they can
understand the customers requirement properly and provide them a
proper scheme with compatible tariff plans by which there will be less
complaints from the customer about their unexpected bill amounts. It will
decrease the no of customers switching over to other competitors.


They should monitor the sales executives properly about how many
connections they are providing and the telecallers should give a call to the
concerned persons so as to know their interest in detail about the tariff
plans. This will result in understanding their performance and finding out
if there is any miscommitment from the sales executives.

The telecallers must communicate to the customer and aware them if any
SMD takes place and the reason why their line is disconnected.


Before giving a CUG connection one must concentrate on the companys
employee policies to identify the on roll employee, take database of
customers i.e. whether they are switching over customers or are
permanent employees so as to decide on the credit limit of customers.

To keep track of the customers and the company CUG connection after
the connection is activated so that the customers non usages, employee
switch over, customers address change can be found out.






70

In case of a company, the DSA or the DST should ensure that the bill is
being paid by the company on account of employee leaving the job.

The verification dept must take all the required documents and scrutinize
them properly to identify if the customer is genuine or not.


The verification Dept. needs to visit the customer again and again if the
person is not available at home because most of the customers have
received reports where it has been specified that line cannot be activated
since the person was not available or address not found.

The DSA and the DST should take added responsibility in case of SIM
loss and if possible replace it so as to retain the customer.


There should be a system where the customer could inform Vodafone
Office or the DSA and the DST in case the customer has to be out of
station for more than a month.

The DSA and the DST should take responsibility to deliver the bill details
in case of high value customers.


In most case the customer is not aware about his old outstanding account.
Therefore, Vodafone should take the responsibility to inform the
particular person about the outstanding details.

The verification team should be more active and try to activate the line
within 24 hours so as to gain more and more customers because there are
cases where customers have switched over to competition plans due to
delay in verification.






71



CHAPTER 5
(CONCLUSIONS AND LIMITATIONS)






















72


CONCLUSIONS

Same Month Deactivation is a serious issue Vodafone is facing. Although
Vodafone is increasing their market but they are losing a large no of customers
which are now taken over by other competitors. In my project I found that
among the 180 customers only 8 SMDs are solved so far. So this issue needs
serious attention to decrease the no of SMD cases.

The gap between the two leading mobile operators in the country, Bharti Airtel
and Vodafone Essar, is becoming narrow in the Kolkata circle so far as the
number of subscribers is concerned. Airtel has been able to reduce the gap with
Vodafone from 2,59,444 subscribers in January 2007 to 1,62,451 in September.
Airtel has come a long way by improving its network and customer service. So
Vodafone should be able to broaden the thin line between both of them.

The DSA and the DSTs constantly work on achieving the targets that Vodafone
put across them but they have ignored some basic business ethics and corporate
responsibility which are the pillars of Vodafone. Therefore, Vodafone should
ensure that Sales is not being done at the cost of betraying a customer and his
principles as it may be a great loss in the long run.

The main reason for SMD i.e. Miscommitment of the sales executives and
telecallers should be taken on a serious note and also the customers should be
allowed to benefit by coming up with new and customized plans so as to
increase the customer base of Vodafone .




73

LIMITATIONS
Although we have put in our best efforts in completing the report but it
suffers from few limitations such as:
I. Some customers did not disclose any information about their connections
since they are not satisfied with the service they got.
II. Some of the companies gave superficial responses regarding their
employee policies and CUG connections which made us to make more
visits to understand their process in detail.
III. Many of the customers gave a wrong no as their alternative contact no. So
it was not possible to communicate to those customers and it was unable
to understand their SMD reasons.
IV. Some customers are not aware about their SMD reasons.
V. Some DSA did not provide us complete data about the SMD. So whatever
data they provided to us was irrelevant to our project.
VI. The DSA and DSTs continuously update some of their strategies to solve
the SMDs , so there is a little chance of deviation from the findings.
VII. As the project is based on personal survey, there are chances of
respondents biasness.
VIII. As it is an academic study, it suffers from time constrain.




74



ANNEXURE 1
(BIBILOGRAPHY)













75

BIBLOGRAPHY



BOOKS REFFERED:

1) Marketing Research by Rajendra Nargundkar (2
nd
Edition).
2) Financial Management by I M Pandey (9
th
edition).
3) Business world.

WEBSITES REFFERED:

1) www.google.com
2) www.vodafone.com

SOFTWARES USED:
1) M.S.OFFICE
2) M.S.EXCEL





76



ANNEXURE 2
(QUESTIONAIRE)





















77

QUESTIONNAIRE FOR SAME MONTH DEACTIVATION

DATE: __________ Q NO: _________
Dear Sir/Madam
I, a student of Assam Institute of Management, Guwahati doing my
Summer Internship Programme in Vodafone, Kolkata is conducting a market
research to know the Reasons for Same Month Deactivation. Kindly extend
your co-operation in filling this questionnaire and enable us to do the research
successfully.
1) NAME:___________________________________
2) PRESENT ADDRESS:_________________________
_________________________________________
PHONE NO: ____________
3) ALTERNATE ADDRESS:_______________________
_________________________________________
PHONE NO: ____________
4) BILLING ADDRESS:__________________________
_________________________________________
PHONE NO: ____________
5) Which plan were you in?
New Talk 199
New Talk 299
NFV 299
Full Value 399
78

Talk Roam 399
Full value 199
New Talk 399
OTR
Full value 699
Talk Roam 299
6) Reasons for SMD:-
BILL RELATED PROBLEMS
Bill higher than expected.
Old outstanding in another account.
Miscommitment by the Telecallers or the Sales Executive.
Credit Monitoring Barring.
PHONE AND SIM RELATED PROBLEMS
Non usage of the Vodafone Postpaid Connection.
Phone and SIM lost.
SIM not activated but still receiving the bill.
PAYMENT RELATED PROBLEM
Not receiving the bill regularly or not received on weekdays, so
becomes unpaid.
Customer Care centres for bill payment are less.
Customer is out of station, so not able to make payment and line
is deactivated.
Changed billing address.
79


CONNECTION RELATED PROBLEMS
Delay in providing connection i.e. too much time taken for
verification
Using too many connections
Deactivation due to connection used by another person/relative.
COMPANY RELATED PROBLEMS
Employees leaving the job
Fraud company
OTHER PROBLEMS
Competition plans
Voice mail box and other added value services problem
Bad Network
7) Presently what service are you using?
____________________________________________________
8) Are you satisfied with your present connection?
____________________________________________________
9) What do you expect from Vodafone?
____________________________________________________
10) Would you like to take up Vodafone again?
YES
NO
Thank you very much for sparing your valuable time with us.