(a) whether some mobile companies are charging for calls made on their customer care number by the subscribers;
(b) if so, the details thereof;
(c) whether the Government proposes to take any action for providing free of cost customer
care service by these companies to their subscribers; and
(d) if so, the details thereof?
THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
(SHRI GURUDAS KAMAT)
(a) & (b) Regulation of Telecom Tariff in the country has been mandated to Telecom
Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) vide the TRAI Act of 1997. As pe the TRAI guidelines,
calls made by the subscribers to the call centre number for lodging grievances are free
of charge. The calls to the customer care number meant for seeking information/query are
also not chargeable in case the subscriber accesses information through Interactive Voice
Response (IVR) only and does not opt to talk to a customer care agent. However, these calls
are chargeable, in case the subscriber opts to talk to a customer agent.
(c) & (d) Do not arise in view of (a) & (b) above.