Samsung is celebrating 30 years of its customer service operations in India, highlighting its transformation from a small manual service network in the mid-1990s into one of the country’s largest AI-enabled and digitally connected customer care ecosystems.
The milestone reflects Samsung’s long-term investment in customer support infrastructure, digital diagnostics, connected appliance management, multilingual support, and predictive service technologies as India’s consumer electronics market continues to expand rapidly.
Samsung’s Customer Service Journey Began in 1996
Samsung opened its first service centre in India in March 1996 at a time when telephones and internet access were still limited across the country. Customer complaints were manually recorded in handwritten registers, while engineers relied on physical visits, paper logbooks, and manual workflows to resolve service requests.
Rajiv Gupta, Director, Service Operations at Samsung India, said customer care during the early years was highly personal because customers frequently visited service centres directly due to the limited availability of home telephones.
By December 1996, Samsung had already expanded its network to 21 service centres across India. In 1997, the company introduced pagers for engineers to receive customer alerts, representing an early technology upgrade in service operations.
Samsung Expands Customer Support Infrastructure Across India
As India’s consumer electronics market grew during the late 1990s and early 2000s, Samsung accelerated the expansion of its customer support ecosystem through franchise-based service centres and centralized support operations.
A major milestone came in 2003 when Samsung launched its first in-house call centre at Nehru Place in Delhi along with a toll-free customer support number.
Today, Samsung operates one of the largest customer care infrastructures in India with:
More than 3,000 service touchpoints
Over 12,500 trained engineers
16 strategically located parts warehouses nationwide
Sunil Cutinha, Head of Customer Satisfaction at Samsung India, said the company has evolved customer service into a core part of the overall Samsung experience by combining scale, innovation, transparency, and fast response times.
AI-Powered Predictive Care and SmartThings Integration
Samsung’s customer service ecosystem now extends beyond traditional repair centres into AI-enabled connected care and predictive diagnostics.
Through SmartThings-enabled Proactive Care powered by Home Appliances Remote Management (HRM), Samsung appliances can automatically detect potential performance issues before failures occur. Refrigerators can alert users about cooling inefficiencies, while air conditioners can proactively recommend maintenance services.
The company’s support infrastructure now includes:
24×7 toll-free helpline support
WhatsApp customer assistance
Remote diagnostics
Online appointment booking
Pick and Drop smartphone servicing
Digital Service Center self-help platform
Samsung’s voice support services are available in 10 Indian languages, helping improve accessibility for customers across multiple regions.
The company is also deploying AI-driven customer support technologies including intelligent co-pilots, speech-to-text systems, and sentiment analysis tools to improve response speed and customer interactions.
Samsung Trains More Than 14,500 Service Engineers
Samsung has also expanded its technical training ecosystem through four training academies and its long-running Dost Service skilling initiative.
Through partnerships with 22 Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs), the Samsung Dost Service program has trained more than 14,500 service engineers across India, supporting the company’s growing nationwide service network.
Sustainability and E-Waste Management Initiatives
Samsung said sustainability is becoming an important part of its customer care operations through initiatives such as Care for Clean India, which promotes responsible e-waste collection, recycling, and disposal through authorized recycling partners.
The company said its 30-year customer service journey reflects the broader evolution of India’s technology landscape – from handwritten service registers and pagers to AI-powered diagnostics, connected appliances, predictive maintenance, and digital-first support platforms.