Telecom service providers should take the responsibility to ensure consumers do not suffer due to call drops, Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said.
The Minister’s comments came after the Supreme Court ruled against the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s (TRAI) compensation policy for call drops on Wednesday.
“The regulations were framed by TRAI. They need to take a call on this. I will go through the judgement elaborately. I acknowledge the role of mobile operators in taking the mobile phones to every nook and corner of the country, it is equally their obligation to keep the services sufficiently satisfactory,” the minister said. He stressed that the government had cleared all pending issues such as sharing, trading and liberalization of spectrum.
Call dropsThe TRAI had mandated that mobile services providers compensate consumers by paying one rupee for every dropped call subject to a maximum of Rs.3 a day, starting January 1.
Order welcomed
Welcoming the judgement, COAI and AUSPI, in a joint statement, said the industry remains committed and completely aligned with the TRAI’s concern to ensure customers enjoy the best experience on their networks.
Hemanth Upadhyay, Advisor, IT and Telecom, Consumer Voice said that the Supreme Court decision went against the interest of the consumers. Rajya Sabha MP Rajeev Chandrasekhar said while the judgement is a blow to the efforts to create rights for mobile and Internet consumers, he was not surprised at the outcome.
“I have repeatedly asserted starting in 2007 that TRAI has lacked the will and indeed, the legal powers to enforce guidelines on telecom companies, in the interest of consumers. To address this, I’ve always maintained that the TRAI Act – last amended in 2000 - needs a review and amendments,” he said.
