THE MINISTER OF STATE (IC) OF THE MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS &
MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS
(SHRI MANOJ SINHA)
(a) & (b) Transparency in Tariff is and has always been an issue of prime concern for the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India(TRAI). To protect the interests of the consumers of telecommunication services, TRAI has issued several directions and guidelines in order to ensure transparency in tariff offers. It has been the constant endeavour of TRAI to give due importance to ‘transparency’ which is evident from the extant regulatory provisions and actions taken in the past in this regard. As per report received from TRAI, important steps taken by TRAI to enhance transparency in tariff offers are at Annexure–I.
However, despite these measures to ensure transparency in tariff, TRAI has received complaints from consumers and consumer organizations highlighting lack of transparency in the tariff offers of Telecom Service Providers (TSPs). In the recent past, TRAI has again reviewed the transparency measures and undertaken a consultation process on issues, inter-alia, including transparency in tariff offers. After the consultation process, the Telecommunications Tariff (63rd Amendment) Order, 2018 dated 16.02.2018 was notified by TRAI.
However, the Telecommunications Tariff (63rd Amendment) Order, 2018 has been challenged by some of the telecom service providers in the Hon’ble Telecom Dispute Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT). The TDSAT, vide its judgment dated 13th December, 2018, has set aside the Telecommunication Tariff (63rd Amendment) Order, 2018 dated 16.02.2018, so far as it changes the concept of Significant Market Power (SMP), Non-predation and the related provisions and ordered that these provisions shall be reconsidered by the Authority at the earliest, preferably within six months. TRAI has filed an appeal before Hon’ble Supreme Court of India and the matter is still subjudice.
(c) & (d) As per information received from Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, the TRAI Act, 1997 does not envisage handling of the individual consumer complaints by TRAI. However, the complaints received from consumers in TRAI are forwarded to the concerned Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) for appropriate action.
There is no separate category of complaints called ‘Lack of transparency in carriers tariff offers’ maintained on Telecom Consumer Complaints Monitoring System(TCCMS) portal. However, the total number of consumer complaints received in TRAI against various telecom service providers (TSPs) on Tariffs (like wrong charging of calls, wrong application of tariffs), during the last one year i.e. the calendar year 2018 is 1,325. TSP-wise details of number of complaints is as below:
<pre>
Service Provider Wrong application of Tariff Wrong Charging of Calls (prepaid) Total
MTNL 3 0 3
BSNL 34 0 34
Aircel 12 0 12
Airtel 474 18 492
Idea 216 10 226
R-Com 3 0 3
RJIL 83 0 83
MTS 1 0 1
TTSL 20 3 23
Telenor 2 0 2
Vodafone 435 11 446
Total 1283 42 1,325
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(e) & (f) TRAI has informed that it has conducted a one year long multi stage public consultation with stakeholders and issued 63rd Amendment to Telecommunication Tariff Order, 1999. TRAI has notified the Telecommunication Tariff (63rd Amendment) Order, 2018 on 16.02.2018 in which ‘relevant market’, ‘relevant product market’ and ‘relevant geographic market’ have been defined under clause ‘la’, ‘lb’ and ‘lc’ respectively and a penalty of Rs 50 lakh per circle has been fixed for every tariff plan that is found to be predatory. However, this definition and penalty has been challenged by some of the telecom service providers and currently the issue is subjudice before Hon’ble Supreme Court of India.
(g) The relevant provisions are subjudice and are yet to be operationalized.
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