The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) on Friday directed Reliance Communications (RCom) and Reliance Telecom (RTL) to refund the unused balance of their prepaid customers and security deposits of their post-paid subscribers.
The companies would also require to report compliance to the regulator by February 15 for prepaid users and by March 31, 2018, for post-paid users.
Sale by RCom
The move follows the announcement by the Anil Ambani-led firm to sell its wireless assets, including spectrum, towers and optical fibre network to Reliance Jio, the telecom arm of elder brother Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries.
The direction for refund is “pursuant to closure of 2G/GSM, CDMA services and discontinuation of voice services in all the licensed services areas by Reliance Communications Limited (RCL) and Reliance Telecom Limited (RTL)”
It added, “premature closure of services has forced large number of mobile subscribers of RCL and RTL to port out or lose their mobile numbers and leave behind their unspent prepaid balance amount and security deposit with RCL and RTL.”
The regulator said it had received large number of complaints from the subscribers regarding refund of balance amount left with the two firms in “the form of recharges or vouchers/plans in their prepaid mobile account and non-refund of security deposits for the post paid mobile accounts”.
“In order to facilitate the refund of security deposit of its post-paid subscribers, RCL and RTL have been directed to refund the security deposits of all the post paid subscribers, within prescribed time frame,” the regulator said.
For those prepaid subscribers who have ported out, the regulator has directed that the unspent balance be transferred to the recipient operator. “The recipient operator shall credit the refund amount received from RCL and/or RTL to individual accounts of the subscribers and intimate the same to such subscribers through SMS,” it said.
Further, the two firms are to obtain bank details from the subscribers who have not ported out, and refund the unspent balance electronically by the February 15, 2018.
The security deposits for postpaid mobile subscribers, the refund needs to be processed and a report is needed to be submitted to TRAI by March 31, 2018.
The regulator said Reliance Communication via separate letters had informed it about closure of the 2G GSM services in Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Maharashtra, UP (East), UP (West), Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala, as well as discontinuation of its CDMA services in Delhi, Rajasthan, UP (West), Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, West Bengal, Gujarat and Kolkata, December 1 onwards.
The two companies, in a letter dated November 29, had intimated TRAI about discontinuation of voice services by Reliance Communications in Bihar, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Kolkata, Madhya Pradesh, Mumbai, Orissa, Punjab, Rajasthan and West Bengal and by Releaince Telecom in Assam, Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, Kolkata, Madhya Pradesh, North East, Orissa, and West Bengal with effect from December 29.
