But then they also doing other things: Launching new schemes like the one which can help trace extortionists. And another in which a computerised voice will give you information about the number of local/STD/ISD calls you have been making and the money that you have to pay.

On the matter of PCO operators who overcharge, MTNL Chief General Manager C.V. Rajan today said: ``We are a democracy and we have to follow democratic ways. It takes us at least two months, from the time a complaint is made, to issue a notice and finally disconnect the line.''

The result: Between March 1998 and March 1999, MTNL's vigilance department ``managed to recommend disconnection in case of only 273 operators''. And there are 28,089 local PCOs and 10,242 STD/IDS booths in the city.

Rajan, who was speaking about the MTNL's achievements in the last financial year, however, promised that raids against overcharging would be stepped up this year. ``We need the co-operation of the users, it's not possible to conduct surprise checks in each PCO every other day.''

What is worrying the MTNL is that the demand for telephone connections has been going down over the past two years, though this has also meant a zero waiting list. In 1998-99, the demand for new telephone connections was about 1.3 lakh compared to 1.74 lakh the year before.

``We have not been able to pinpoint the actual reasons for the fall in demand. It could be due to general economic slowdown in the country in the past two years,'' Rajan said. He hoped that this year the MTNL would make a difference through its various schemes and reach out to 2.4 lakh people.

The agency has fixed a budget of Rs 1,207 crore for the current financial year. Most of it will be spent on turning the whole network digital from partially analog now. One area where MTNL ``really wants to do its bit'' is help the Delhi Police check crime. Rajan said an electronic device, which will display the number of an incoming call, will be available in the market next month onwards. This device can be attached to the telephone by the user.

``Currently only the police have this facility. But now any telephone owner can know who's calling him, especially if the person on the other line is attempting to extort money.''

Initially, though, this facility will be limited to one-third of the telephone owners in the city, living in telephone exchange areas which have the technology for this special facility.

Other areas where the MTNL is concentrating are: reducing frequent complaints about cable faults by replacing the cables with optical fibres and introducing wireless instruments.

About the response, or the lack of it, from operators on enquiring from 197, Rajan said several steps are being taken to ensure that callers get the information they want quickly and efficiently. Besides, from now on callers don't have to depend wholly on operators at 197.

``First, the telephone directory has come out after four years. And it will be a great help. Secondly, we have decentralised the enquiry department, spreading it across five places. And thirdly, our internet service will list every number in the city, even ones which have come into effect 12 hours earlier,'' said Rajan. Currently, there are 5,000 subscribers to MTNL's internet service. But it hopes to expand the service to one lakh subscribers by the end of this year.