Why should I subscribe to Encyclopædia Britannica Online?

At just Rs.75/- per month Encyclopædia Britannica Online offers the quality and breadth you have come to trust in Encyclopædia Britannica over two centuries, along with new features to improve your research and learning experience.
Britannica service includes precious source of information that is:

Trusted:
Used as a reference source by over 20 million students world over
Respected:
With contributions from over 90 Nobel laureates and thousands of other leading authorities, Encyclopædia Britannica has maintained a reputation for accuracy and authenticity for over 230 years
Latest:
Continuously updated by Britannica's panel of experts, Encyclopædia Britannica Online provides the most current information on virtually every subject imaginable
Comprehensive:
Access over 120,000 articles including the entire text from the 32 volumes of Encyclopædia Britannica, an updated world atlas, thousands of images and videos, an online dictionary and thesaurus, over 300,000 articles from respected magazines and journals, and much more
Convenient:
Thousands of videos, images, maps, search tools, Guide to the Web's best sites, Advertisement-free, child-safe, user-friendly

What will I get under this service?

The cornerstone of the complete Online Encyclopædia Britannica service is that it includes a number of valuable content sources such as:

• The 32-volume Encyclopædia Britannica, updated for 2005 and including many articles by Nobel laureates
• Britannica Concise Encyclopædia, offering definition and basic facts about a range of subjects
• Britannica Student Encyclopædia, providing articles written for a younger audience
• Britannica's Internet Guide, featuring the Web's best sites, as selected and reviewed by Britannica's editors
• Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary and Thesaurus
• Articles from leading magazines
• Over 120,000 articles from expert contributors
• Over 300,000 articles from respected magazines and journals
• An updated world atlas
• Thousands of images and videos
• Merriam-Webster Unabridged Online dictionary and thesaurus
• News headlines
• A guide to the Web's best sites
• Research tools to help with citations and bibliographies
  

What is the price of a subscription to Encyclopædia Britannica Online?

Encyclopædia Britannica Online is available to TATA Indicom Broadband subscribers (both individual and family subscribers) for a special offer of Rs. 75 only (monthly)
Britannica subscription is available in four options:

1. Monthly Plan - Rs. 75 per month

2. Quarterly Plan - Rs. 225 for 3 months

3. Half-Yearly Plan - Rs. 450 for 6 months

4. Annual Plan - Rs. 900 for 12 months

For more details you can also visit our subscription page to get the current pricing information, and to begin the subscription process.

Will I be charged tax on my subscription fee?

Yes a service tax of 10.2% will be applicable.
For the Prepaid subscribers this will get apportioned from the pack value, so the subscription price for the subscriber will be Rs 68 only.
A service tax of 10.20% will apply for postpaid subscribers on every subscription.

Can I use another 15 day free trial option after I consume my current trial option?

The free trial period once exhausted cannot be refreshed by subscribing another free trial period offer after 15 days.

What is the auto-renew option?

The Auto Renew option, if selected during the purchase will, ensure that your subscription gets automatically renewed every month as soon as it ends. This feature is for your convenience, you need not remember to renew every month. However, if you would prefer to renew your subscription manually, please leave the box unchecked.

This is for your convenience so you need not renew every month.

Will I be charged for browsing service on the portal?

Yes, you will be charged. On the basis of volume of downloads if you are on a volume based plan. You will be charged on the basis of time consumed on the net if you are on a time based plan. You will not be charged anything if you are on an unlimited plan.

I want to purchase a subscription to Encyclopædia Britannica Online, but I don't want to use my credit card over the Internet. What are my options?

No you don't need to use your Credit Card.

For Post-paid customers:
On choosing the subscription option, the amount shall be debited to your account and charged in the immediate bill.

The monthly charge shall be billed to the customer’s account every month in case of monthly subscription plan (auto renewal), in case you choose quarterly, half-yearly or yearly subscription plan the bill for the same will be generated in the next month billing cycle and the payment for the same will be one time.

For Pre-paid customers:
If the sufficient balance is available in your account the amount shall be deducted from your pre-paid account balance.
If the sufficient balance is not available in your account for subscription then in that case you would be required to renew/ top up your account.

How do I cancel my subscription to Encyclopædia Britannica Online?

If you want to cancel the service, you can click on the "Cancel" link for Britannica service in the My acc page.
1. You have to click on the "Cancel" link against the service for which you want to cancel the service.
2. This would simply mean that you are not opting to renew the monthly subscription from the following month.
3. On clicking this option, you shall be provided with details of the expiry dates through an e-mail.
4. For Quarterly, half yearly or yearly subscription, no refunds will be offered. However you have the option to continue for the period from the date of subscription to date of expiry as long as you are Tata Indicom Broadband user.

How do I know if my account has been cancelled? What happens if I think I've cancelled but I'm still being billed? If I haven't received confirmation that my account has been cancelled, can I still be billed?

You'll receive an immediate mail alert from the customer care regarding the details of your transaction and for not opting to renew the monthly subscription from the next month.

Am I eligible for a refund if I don't use the service?

No. While we encourage our subscribers to make as much use as possible of the many facets of Encyclopædia Britannica Online, we will not issue refunds to subscribers who feel that they have not fully utilized the service. Billing is based solely on provision of access, not on site usage.

If I sign up for a Free Trial, am I automatically activating a paid subscription at the end of my Free Trial?

No. We will send you an e-mail to notify you when your Free Trial is expiring. If you wish to subscribe to the service, you may do so at any time within the Free Trial period and you will be billed only after your Free Trial expires. If you do nothing, your Free Trial will end, and you'll not be able to access the service. For more information about how to cancel, click here.

Why can't I access Encyclopædia Britannica Online?

Encyclopædia Britannica Online is a subscription site, so only paid subscribers and Free Trial participants are able to access the entire Encyclopædia Britannica Online database and complete line of special features.

Subscribers and Free Trial participants may experience difficulties accessing Encyclopædia Britannica Online for the following reasons:

1. Your subscription has expired.
Please visit your My Account Update area to review your account status. Your log-in and password are required to enter this area.

2. Not enough Balance for the auto renewal option if your current account gets exhausted (monthly/Quarterly plans) and you have signed for auto renewal option, you should have enough balance at that time for next plan to get executed when the existing plan is getting expired.

3. TATA Indicom Broadband connection expired - if your Tata Indicom subscription expires before expiry of his Britannica subscription! In that case, you will not be able to log on to Britannica site in spite of the fact that you're an active subscription of Britannica.

4. Check for Pop up Blocker on your browser - chances are that your pop-ups form the Britannica site might get blocked because of Pop up Blocker

If you are still unable to access your account, contact TATA Indicom Customer Support for assistance here mailto:customerservice@vsnl.co.in

I am trying to log-in to the Britannica website and my user-name and password is ineffectual. The site asks me for a premium username and password. What do I do?

You may have accessed the Britannica website directly. Make sure that you access Britannica through the prominently visible Britannica links on the Tata Indicom portal itself. This will lead you to a Tata Indicom-Britannica co-branded page (the top bar will display logos of both organisations).

If you go through the Britannica website, there is a screen which prompts you to log in. (However, in this log-in, the TIBB Username and password will be ineffectual as this log-in is targeted at Britannica’s customers).When confronted with such a situation, you have to return to the Tata Indicom Broadband homepage and log back into Britannica (through the links on the TIBB homepage) as only TIBB users can enter this exclusive Britannica portal and this is closed to all other users.

After you have logged into the TIBB portal, no further log in is required for Britannica, it is a single time log-in.

I have taken the free trial and purchased a Britannica pack on the same day. What will the validity periods in question be?

The validity of the free trial is for 15 days, even if you purchase a service pack on that very day. Therefore, you will be getting a free trial till 15 days after the date you registered for the free trial. Your paid service will only be activated after this period expires. The counter for your subscription and deduction of subscription fees shall only start from the day the trial period ends.