Scores of IndiaMobile dealers and agents in Kolkata have demonstrated before the Reliance office here demanding immediate disbursement of CDMA mobile handsets.
IndiaMobile dealers and agents crowded the Reliance House in Kolkata for the past two days to pick up their allotment of CDMA sets. They alleged that the company had failed to meet the deadline for disbursement of the mobile phones.
A Reliance Infocomm source told rediff.com that the company had ordered 350,000 CDMA mobile phones for Kolkata alone, but because of a 'slight change in schedules' the handsets were taking some time in arriving.
Trouble started on Wednesday when the agents and dealers of the new cellular service, who had paid deposits ranging from Rs 10,000 to Rs 50,000, began making inquiries with the Reliance House about disbursement of the handsets.
When they were told that the same would take some time, they got furious.
"They have taken the deposits from us months ago, but we are yet to begin our business," the angry dealers and agents alleged, adding potential customers were turning away because they were failing to show them CDMA handsets.
Police had to be called in to disperse the crowd. Thursday evening also saw the agitated dealers and agents make their way to Reliance House.
A company spokesman said they had begun distributing the handsets and would cover the estimated 1,500 city dealers and agents soon.
Frantic inquiries about CDMA handsets were also being made by IndiaMobile dealers and agents in other cities and towns of the region.