Question : POOR TELECOM SERVICES

(a) whether the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has received complaints of subscribers against Telecom Service providers and if so, the details thereof during each of the last three years and the current year, State-wise;

(b) whether the Service Providers have been found guilty in addressing the complaints of subscribers in an effe- ctive and time-bound manner and if so, the details thereof along with the action taken by the Government against such service providers during the same period;

(c) whether the TRAI has any mechanism to monitor the quality of services and the efforts taken by the service providers in addressing the grievances of subscribers and imposing penalties/fine for unsatisfactory services and if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor;

(d) whether the telecom services are unsatisfactory at district level in many States particularly in remote and backward areas; and

(e) if so, the details thereof, State-wise and the measures taken by the Government to improve the service in affected areas?

THE MINISTER OF COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI RAVI SHANKAR PRASAD)

(a) Yes, Madam. The service area-wise details of the complaints received in Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) for the year 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015 (upto 23.02.2015) are as per Annexure-I.

(b) TRAI do take serious notice of complaints affecting a large number of consumers or practices adopted by service providers which are against the interest of consumers. Accordingly, a number of Regulations, Directions and Orders has been issued by TRAI to address such issues.

(c) Yes, Madam. For ensuring Quality of Service (QoS), TRAI is closely monitoring the performance of service providers against the prescribed Quality of service (QoS) benchmarks. TRAI has been pursuing with service providers for improving Quality of Service and in this regard regular interactions are being held with service providers. Further TRAI has engaged independent agencies for auditing and assessing QoS and surveys are also being done regularly through independent agencies to assess the customer perception of service. The results of the audit and assessment of QoS and surveys are being published for the information of stakeholders, which also force the service providers to improve their quality of service. Wherever, the quality of service benchmarks are not met, TRAI imposes financial disincentives on service providers for their failure to comply with the prescribed QoS benchmarks.

(d)&(e) The performance of the telecom services is monitored by TRAI against the prescribed Quality of Service (QoS) benchmarks; for the service area as a whole including remote and backward areas. As per recent TRAI’s Quality of Services (QoS) Performance Monitoring Reports, the service providers are generally complying with the QoS benchmarks prescribed for concerned telecom services.