I've been using BSNL for more than 3 years and never received missed call alert messages before. Yesterday I got an SMS from "BT-MCALRT-S" saying:
"You have 1 missed call from +91XXXXXXXXXX latest by 2026-06-30 20:25:53."
Has BSNL recently enabled this service automatically due to the 4G/VoLTE rollout, or is there some setting that got activated on my SIM? Anyone else experiencing this?
The Glitch:
Attempted a ₹904 electricity bill payment on Google Pay using my Paytm Postpaid Credit Line (issued by Suryoday Small Finance Bank).
The transaction failed, but the money was auto-debited from my linked savings account during the monthly settlement.
Google Pay gave me a Refund Reference ID, stating the reversal was successful on March 1st, but Suryoday Bank claimed they "could not trace it anywhere."
The RBI Escalation:
Tired of the runaround, I filed a formal complaint on the RBI CMS Portal against Suryoday Bank.
The bank tried to deflect blame, but I kept my cool and submitted a purely factual counter-response to the RBI with exact timelines, screenshots, and the tracking ID.
The RBI Office in Chennai ordered a deep technical audit of the logs.
The Plot Twist (The Smoking Gun):
Google's engineering audit revealed a wild system flaw: The refund WAS successful on March 1st, but Suryoday Bank's internal system glitched and automatically kicked the money back to Google's master pool the exact same day. The bank had lied to the RBI saying they couldn't find it.
The Endgame & The ₹9,000 Jackpot:
The Principal: Realizing they were caught in an RBI investigation, Google Pay bypassed the broken banking network on May 30th and manually credited my core ₹904 principal using an alternate grievance scratch card routed straight to my Central Bank of India account.
The Push for Delay: When the RBI asked for final comments, I didn't just walk away. I officially placed the bank's 3-month delay on the legal record and requested an audit of any platform fees. The RBI officially closed the complaint under Clause 14(9)(a) (Settled via Ombudsman intervention).
The Compensation: Because the 3-month delay was fully recorded, Google Pay's high-level compliance team called me back to address it. They triggered the exact same scratch card mechanism to instantly push a one-time gratification payment of ₹9,000 via IMPS (RRN: 874616071616) to my bank account as per RBI guidelines!
The Glitch:
Attempted a ₹904 electricity bill payment on Google Pay using my Paytm Postpaid Credit Line (issued by Suryoday Small Finance Bank).
The transaction failed, but the money was auto-debited from my linked savings account during the monthly settlement.
Google Pay gave me a Refund Reference ID, stating the reversal was successful on March 1st, but Suryoday Bank claimed they "could not trace it anywhere."
The RBI Escalation:
Tired of the runaround, I filed a formal complaint on the RBI CMS Portal against Suryoday Bank.
The bank tried to deflect blame, but I kept my cool and submitted a purely factual counter-response to the RBI with exact timelines, screenshots, and the tracking ID.
The RBI Office in Chennai ordered a deep technical audit of the logs.
The Plot Twist (The Smoking Gun):
Google's engineering audit revealed a wild system flaw: The refund WAS successful on March 1st, but Suryoday Bank's internal system glitched and automatically kicked the money back to Google's master pool the exact same day. The bank had lied to the RBI saying they couldn't find it.
The Endgame & The ₹9,000 Jackpot:
The Principal: Realizing they were caught in an RBI investigation, Google Pay bypassed the broken banking network on May 30th and manually credited my core ₹904 principal using an alternate grievance scratch card routed straight to my Central Bank of India account.
The Push for Delay: When the RBI asked for final comments, I didn't just walk away. I officially placed the bank's 3-month delay on the legal record and requested an audit of any platform fees. The RBI officially closed the complaint under Clause 14(9)(a) (Settled via Ombudsman intervention).
The Compensation: Because the 3-month delay was fully recorded, Google Pay's high-level compliance team called me back to address it. They triggered the exact same scratch card mechanism to instantly push a one-time gratification payment of ₹9,000 via IMPS to my bank account as per RBI guidelines!
After nearly 3 months, my ₹904 UPI Credit Line dispute finally ended, but in a very unexpected way.
Timeline:
- 23 Feb 2026: Paid ₹904 electricity bill via Google Pay using Paytm Postpaid (Suryoday Small Finance Bank credit line).
- Transaction showed FAILED, but ₹904 plus convenience fee was still billed to my Paytm Postpaid account.
- Google Pay later confirmed a refund was issued and provided an RTR ID.
- Suryoday Bank repeatedly said they never received the refund.
- Paytm initially treated the transaction as successful.
- I raised complaints with customer care, nodal officers, and eventually filed an RBI Ombudsman complaint.
- Multiple service requests were created and closed without resolution.
- Bank asked me to contact the merchant, even though Google Pay had already provided refund confirmation.
- After months of emails, calls, and RBI escalation, a Google Pay escalation agent contacted me.
Final outcome:
Google Pay credited ₹904 to me as cashback/goodwill credit and confirmed it over a phone call.
So I recovered the principal amount, but I never received any separate compensation for the months of delay and effort spent chasing the issue.
Has anyone else experienced a failed UPI Credit Line transaction where the refund got stuck between the payment app and the issuing bank? Curious to know how your case was resolved.
Attached is a screenshot of an interaction I just had with BSNL’s official support on X, and it perfectly highlights how telecom companies are quietly slashing benefits while hoping we don't notice.
For context, BSNL has been pushing their ₹1 Freedom Offer for new SIM activations.
Here is what the offer used to be just recently:
2GB Data per day
30 Days Validity
Here is what they have quietly downgraded it to now:
1GB Data per day (A 50% cut in daily data)
24 Days Validity (A 20% cut in lifespan)
The SIM is still ₹1, but the actual introductory benefits have been gutted.
The funniest (and most frustrating) part is the response I got when I called them out on this silent downgrade. The official BSNL Care handle literally replied with a copy-paste template stating: "BSNL regularly revises plans based on TRAI guidelines and operational updates."
Since when does the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) force operators to cut a user's data allowance in half and shave off a week of validity? It’s a blatant corporate excuse for standard shrinkflation.
I know a lot of us have been rooting for BSNL lately, especially with their ongoing 4G rollout and VoLTE/VoWiFi testing, but seeing them adopt the exact same sneaky tariff-slashing tactics as the private duopoly is disappointing.
Has anyone else noticed similar silent downgrades on other BSNL plans recently?
VoLTE is finally working in my location from yesterday. I wanted to share my full experience in case it helps others in Thoothukudi or nearby areas.
Device:
Poco M4 Pro 5G
Initial Issue:
- In Thoothukudi, I was getting BSNL 4G but no VoLTE
- Calls were falling back to 3G/2G
- Speeds were inconsistent, mostly around 1–8 Mbps
- However, VoWiFi was working properly
What made things confusing was:
- When I travelled to Thiruchendur or Sawyerpuram, VoLTE worked perfectly
- Speeds in those areas were much better (10–30 Mbps)
So same SIM + same phone behaved differently depending on location.
What I tried:
- Disabled VoLTE carrier check using Poco dialer code
- Reset APN and changed APN type to:
default,supl,ims
- Kept BSNL as primary data SIM for some time
- Raised complaint in BSNL Selfcare app
- Later raised a CPGRAMS complaint under Mobile Network category
Important observation:
My IMS registration initially was NOT registered in testing menu, but after some time VoWiFi started working. That confirmed IMS provisioning was happening in backend.
Finally:
From yesterday, VoLTE started working in my Thoothukudi location too. Calls are now staying on 4G.
My conclusion:
This was not a phone issue. It looks like BSNL towers in different areas are being upgraded gradually, and VoLTE availability depends heavily on local tower rollout/optimization.
Thanks to everyone who shared suggestions and technical explanations. I’ll continue monitoring speed and stability over the next few days.