Overview

• Thirty-two representatives of more than 60 tribal villages in Ri Bhoi district wrote to Chief Minister Conrad Sangma this week to demand urgent intervention over recurring network failures
• Villagers report outages lasting up to 17 hours with no warning or explanation, disrupting emergency calls, online banking and access to essential services
• Residents allege that Airtel continues to collect full prepaid charges without extending plan validity or offering any compensation for service disruptions
• In their appeal, villagers call for the Department of Telecommunications to conduct an urgent technical audit, hold Airtel accountable and explore alternative service providers
• Bharti Airtel has not publicly responded to the letter, citing Meghalaya’s heavy rains and hilly terrain as the main barriers to consistent network coverage