Airtel user demands 'Hindu representative'; firm clarifies stance after Twitter outrage

A day after Ola driver "off-roaded" a customer after allegedly refusing to enter a Muslim locality, the telecom giant Airtel got trolled on Twitter after its customer care executive expressed an intent to assist a user despite her demand for a 'Hindu representative'.

Pooja Singh, an Airtel direct-to-home (DTH) customer, expressed her displeasure on Twitter over the behaviour of a service engineer assigned by the company. Following which, a customer care executive from Bharti Airtel India replied to her saying the company would take a closer look into her complaint and get back shortly.

Singh, however, demanded a "Hindu representative" as the customer care executive appeared to be a Muslim from his name, Shoaib. She said she has "no faith in his working ethics".

Dear Shohaib, as you’re a Muslim and I have no faith in your working ethics because Kuran may have different version for customer service, thus requesting you to assign a Hindu representative for my request. Thanks

— Pooja Singh (@pooja303singh) June 18, 2018

A few hours later, another executive named Gaganjot contacted Singh, expressing the intent on behalf of the company to assist her. It seemed like the firm was willing to assist such discriminatory demand of the customer.

Twitter outraged after Airtel seen to be obliging customer who wanted to talk to 'Hindu representative'.

ok i know how this looks, but its not all what it seems. Airtel customer care queries are flagged on a platform (not twitter) and they are responded to in rotation(not always by the same person) so while it looks like they gave into bigotry it might not be the case.

— Vikram (@thereversefIash) June 18, 2018

In any case, Airtel ought to have addressed the issue of its customer discriminating one of their own based on religious identity.

— Jatin (@jatinuva) June 18, 2018

A number of users also tweeted about porting their numbers to other operators from Airtel. The rising criticism forced the telecom giant to respond and clarify its stance.

In response, Airtel said the company "do not differentiate between customers, employees and partners on the basis of caste or religion. We would urge you to do the same".

The company further said that both Shoaib and Gaganjot were a part of their customer resolution team and in case of any customer querry they respond in the interest of time.