(a) whether the Government proposes to introduce telephone and mobile services in all the
remote and scheduled areas in the country including Tamil Nadu;
(b) if so, the details thereof;
(c) whether there is any grievance redressal mechanism to resolve/redress the problems faced
by the subscribers of rural areas in the country; and
(d) if so, the details thereof and the steps taken by the Government in this regard?
THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS AND
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI GURUDAS KAMAT)
(a) & (b) Yes, Sir.In order to introduce telephone and mobile services in all the remote areas
of the country including those in Tamil Nadu, Government is taking the following steps:-
(i) Subsidy support is being provided by Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF) for
installation of Individual Rural Direct Exchange Lines (RDELs) in 1,685 Short Distance Charging
Areas (SDCAs) in the country including 24 SDCAs of Tamil Nadu, where cost of providing telephones
is more than the revenue earned. As on 31.05.2009, about 64.6 lakh RDELs have been provided in
the country including 2.7 lakh lines in Tamil Nadu.
(ii) Subsidy support is also being extended by USOF for setting up of 7,440 Shareable
Infrastructure Sites in the country including 325 towers in Tamil Nadu for provision of mobile
services in rural and remote areas, where there is no existing fixed wireless or mobile coverage.
Out of these, 5,624 towers in the country including 283 towers in Tamil Nadu have already been
commissioned under this scheme as on May, 2009. The remaining towers are likely to be
commissioned by September, 2009. Besides, USOF is also likely to launch shortly second phase of
setting up 10,128 additional towers including 101 towers in Tail Nadu to cover the remaining
uncovered rural and remote areas.
(c) & (d) Yes, Sir. As per Telecom Consumers Protection and Redressal of Grievances
Regulations, 2007 (3 of 2007) of Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), each telecom
service provider has following three tier grievance Redressal mechanism:-
(i) Call Centre Level.
(ii) Nodal Authority Level.
(iii) Appellate Authority Level.
The complainant should initially approach call centre for resolution of his grievance.The Call
Centre should resolve his grievance within 3 days in case of faulty telephones.In case
complainant is not satisfied with grievance resolution at call centre level, he may approach Nodal
Officer who is supposed to resolve the grievance within 10 days in case of faulty Telephones.In
case complainant is not satisfied with action/reply of Nodal Officer, he may approach Appellate
Authority who should decide the case within 30 days of receipt of complaint/appeal.