Is Bharti Airtel Stocks a safe bet?

No way friends. On the contrary, Airtel is fast digging it own grave!

While I was browsing online to air-and-share my experience with Airtel, stumbled upon (Typing Airtel+fraud or Airtel+cheat in Google) their consistent and systematic swindling of retail customers, most of whom have silently borne their brunt. For many, like the first listing below, it has been an awful and disgusting experience. The list of pages and the individual listings would require years to read! I made a sample study after going through 100’s of pages – Primarily understood the magnitude of this SCAM, done without batting an eye-lid, year after year.)

Here are the voices of some of them…

My Experience With Airtel Broadband in Jaipur, India (This gentleman has, hit the nail-on-the- head, much before anyone, isn’t it?)

http://pegu.in/myvoice/internet-service-provider/my-experience-with-airtel-broadband-in-jaipur-india/comment-page-1/#comment-60

And some samples…

Airtel cheated me

http://www.rtiindia.org/forum/4935-airtel-cheated-me.html

Feel CHEATED by AIRTEL

http://www.techenclave.com/broadband-forum/feel-cheated-by-airtel-134215-2.html

Double Billing

http://www.consumercomplaints.in/complaints/double-billing-c26101.html

Airtel Complaints - ISD Activation

http://www.consumercomplaints.in/complaints/isd-activation-c29186.html

Airtel Prepaid Fraud

http://broadbandforum.in/airtel-broadband/58271-airtel-broadband-not-fair-but-fraud/

http://www.mka.in/index.php?/archives/63-Airtel-Prepaid-Fraud.html

Bharti Airtel ventures into Retail Fraud

http://viewsreviews.wordpress.com/2006/12/30/bharti-airtel-ventures-into-retail-fraud/

AIRTEL fraud-- illegal deduction of money from balance

http://www.complaint.customermath.com/complaint/45842-AIRTEL_prepaid_.html

Airtel datacard fraud

http://www.consumercourt.in/internet-services/5798-airtel-datacard-fraud.html

Airtel FRAUD

http://www.lawguru.com/legal-questions/india-consumer-law/airtel-fraud-bought-prepaid-connection-112621146/a

Airtel cheats NRIs with lame tricks: Airtell CallHome

http://rashmiranjanpadhy.com/2009/05/05/airtel-cheats-nris-with-lame-tricks/

AIRTEL FRAUD – Moving to Consumer Court!

http://www.sriviews.com/2010/03/airtel-fraud-consumer-court-hyderabad-cheating-customers-postpaid-prepaid-worst-service-support-madhapur-office-retain-old-documents-address-verification-case-issue/

Some Assorted complaints

http://www.my3cents.com/productReview.cgi?company=Airtel

http://worldthrumyeyes.wordpress.com/2008/05/19/airtel-service-bad-bad-bad-really-bad/

http://www.complaintsboard.com/complaints/airtel-c37.html

Innocent techie in jail, sues Airtel for Rs. 20 Crores!

http://www.siliconindia.com/shownews/Innocent_techie_in_jail_sues_Airtel_for_Rs_20_Crores-nid-61203/1/1/#success

Airtel Cheating Customer and Irrate Service

http://www.consumercourt.in/mobile-services/6698-airtel-cheating-customer-irrate-service.html

Airtel's cheap cheating tricks

http://balajin.net/blog/archives/2008/04/27/airtels_cheap_cheating_tricks.html

How Airtel increases it revenues by cheating customers?

http://managementblog.customermath.com/index.php/2009/01/13/airtel-increases-revenues-cheating-customers/                         

The listings go on and on, tens of thousands, from the Techies to the Entrepreneur to the common man- Again, these are only online forums. We can safely multiply this number by 1000 or 10,000 to include the offline customer woes, from Karnal to Kanyakumari, off-and-on the Consumer Courts/forums as well. A quick analysis of the content, language, tone and tenor, Jantha pouring in forums, their peer groups, blogs etc., running into  hundreds of pages with tens of thousands of individual experiences with Airtel reveal their TRUE COLOURS. Most pertain to GREED-ie.”Dumping” AND “Cockroach Type Approach” to Customer service, "Sensuous Lip-service", at the start though.

The first "self inflicted Tsunami" for Airtel will be on July 1, 2010 when MNP will be in operation!. Amen!

No this stock is best avoided as there are a huge number of new entrants who are going all out to capture the existing subscribers.Consequently all the telecom companies are facing a huge amount of margin pressure.Also the launch of new services like 3G is getting further delayed with little clarity on important issues like Licensing Fees and Number Portability.

Bharti has always been a great stock to invest in. Personally, I feel the MTN deal is expensive and might act as a catalyst in lowering its current share prices however, it still remains an excellent stock to invest if you are planning long term.

Also, with 3G license at its disposal, I expect greater service penetration and revenues in the next 12 months. As some one said earlier, it is the Infosys of the telecom sector, I would rather label it as Microsoft of the Indian telecom sector. 

Yes Of course, It will be good choice to have stocks, as it is crystal clear that Airtel is market leader in telco .... with global level expansion plans ..it has been already instantiated with SriLanka and US, also merger with MTN...

For long term investment, it is a safe bet. The current position of the stock market is very much volatile. We should pick up the stocks at the lower levels right now. The overbought market is due for its correction. Bharti Airtel is leading the market in portfolio management.Their stocks are also in a very good position.

Telecom sector has great future and deserves a place in ones portfolio. Bharti Airtel is market leader in this sector and has a visionary management. Bharti Airtel stock appears a good and safe bet.

Bharti as now with 60000 and odd bottom line, 40rs. eps and 8 rs dividend seems to be a good company to parke your money. Then TATA is planning a 1 re unlimited talk time product which might make downward pressure on the pricing of all others. Still I believe number interchagebility still noooot in force the affect may be surmountable. I feel compared to companies available in India it is less risky to invest in BA