British telecom major BT to close call centres in India

British telecom major BT has announced plans to answer more than 80 per cent of its consumer calls by the end of 2016 in Britain, which involves closing Indian call centres that have been handling most of the consumer calls so far.

British telecom major BT has announced plans to answer more than 80 per cent of its consumer calls by the end of 2016 in Britain, which involves closing Indian call centres that have been handling most of the consumer calls so far.

There have been complaints from consumers about the service received from BT’s calls centres in India. The company has created more than 1,000 new jobs in the UK and many more are to be created over the next year, it said in a statement.

John Petter, chief executive of BT Consumer, said: “Our customers have told us that they would prefer to speak to a contact centre in the UK when they call us”.

Most of BT consumer calls have been handled in Bengaluru and other places in India over the last decade. However, BT said it would continue to outsource back office work and functions that do not involve taking customers’ calls offshore.

Petter said: “Our offshore partners have provided a good level of service for our customers and we will still have offshore partners to help us to deliver various campaigns and services. However, we believe that now is the right time to commit more investment to the UK and that this is something that customers will appreciate.”