(a) whether the Government has received complaints from telephone subscribers regarding indiscriminate Telephone tariff and collecting of rent in rural areas at urban rates; and
(b) if so, the action taken by the Government in this regard?
(a) whether the Government has received complaints from telephone subscribers regarding indiscriminate Telephone tariff and collecting of rent in rural areas at urban rates; and
(b) if so, the action taken by the Government in this regard?
THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (DR. SHAKEEL AHMAD )
(a) Yes, Sir. Some complaints are received.
(b) TRAI has prescribed rental and call charges for Rural subscribers which shall be offered to subscribers by all service providers. The classification of areas into Urban and Rural for charging of monthly telephone rentals has been made as per the Census Report of 2001, which is consistent with the tariff policy specified in the Telecommunication Tariff Order, 1999. The service providers are, however, at liberty to provide alternative tariff plans with different combinations of rentals and call charges. However, if any case of wrong charging comes to notice, immediate action is taken to correct the error and bills revised by BSNL.